Valley of the Damned
by Promises of Freedom
Summary: The Uchiha were never one to back down. Their power is vast, steadily growing, and unable to be quelled by diplomacy. The Hyuuga were the other half of the equation. The variable that stood up to the Uchiha. There was only one true answer to their situation: Civil War, and caught in the middle of it is a certain blond Jinchuriki who wants nothing to do with either side or peace.
1. Not Giving In

**Valley of the Damned**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

"**Alternative Universe" – The Uchiha were never slaughtered. They started a civil war during the invasion of Sand/Cloud during Naruto's Chunnin Exams. Mostly cannon up until after Naruto's training trip. Story starts two years after his three yearlong training trip. **

"**Saucy Summary" – The Uchiha were never one to back down. Their power is vast, steadily growing, and unable to be quelled by diplomacy. There was only one true answer to their situation: War. Welcome to the Valley of the Damned.**

**Chapter 1**

_Not Giving In_

On the floor laid a young man. His dark silk-like strands of hair laid out about the wooden floor. Blood pooled out underneath him and soaked into all it came into contact with. Nearby a blond headed young man kneeled down on a large pillow facing towards the bleeding dark haired youth. The blond wiped the blood off a short blade and set the blade down in front of him.

The dark haired youth coughed up blood and muttered weakly. For some his muttering would be too low for hearing, but not for the blond headed youth. "Yes. Neither did I, but death suites traitors," The blond headed youth spoke a loud before shutting his eyes. "I will remain here with you, my friend. I will never abandon you," he told the dark haired youth, who coughed up more blood and fought off a spasm.

-[==]-

Naruto kneeled still on his meditation pillow. His thoughts were swirling around in an uncontrollable mess. He focused deeper on chakra control exercises to promote the emotional chakra inside of him to flow smoothly but a smooth stream seemed impossible for him. His chakra clumped up in anger and he would have to disrupt the clump manually to avoid blowing up in frustration. In front of him was a dried puddle of blood that was caked into the wood. Naruto's eyes laid on it with a fierce glare as his thoughts continued to flare violently.

Five years ago the greatest hidden village in the world descended into civil war. The Hidden Leaf Village, contracted by the Fire Country for their defense and offense, split down the middle when several clans defected with the help of outsiders. The cut was uneven, as it always was, but each side fought with lethal force. Naruto could remember when it wasn't always so and at first one side refused to use lethal force. It wasn't until people started dying unnecessarily that they both started using lethal force.

At first there were two distinct factions. The rebels, composed of the Uchiha, Aburame, Kurama, Shimura, and the Inuzuka, and the resistance, composed of the Hyuuga, Nara, Yanamaka, and the Akimichi. At this point the Sarutobi clan was down to only two surviving members, so they could not be counted as a major clan in either side of the war. The same could be said about the Yuri, Hatake, Uzumaki, and Senju clans.

The once famed Konohagakure became a battlefield overnight. Many died within the next week as Danzo's hidden forces began to come out in force. Many of the village's ANBU died protecting the Third Hokage and many more defected to the rebels. The village descended into chaos for the next six months as each side gathered outside allies.

Naruto shut his eyes and took a deep breath. The rippling breath calmed him considerably as he tried to reign in his thoughts. The dark haired youth was none other than Neji, one of his sworn allies and friends. Naruto shook his head in anger before standing up from the cushion and walking out of the room. The door led to a beautiful budding garden, and the house was nestled in a clearing in the vast forests surrounding the Leaf Village.

The house wasn't very large. It was composed of four rooms. Two bedrooms, one kitchen and storeroom, and one dojo dedicated to studying and meditation. This was Naruto's home. Naruto walked down the house's L shaped structure and paced the hallway nervously.

At first Naruto was a part of the resistance. The civil war split his team in half. Sasuke and Sakura defected the village and joined the rebels. Naruto touched the scar on his face as he remembered the day that his two ex-teammates defected. Sasuke had tried to kill him with Sakura hesitating in the background. Naruto barely escaped the Kunai that was meant to impale his brain through his eyes by turning and falling to the ground. His sensei, Kakashi Hatake, was nowhere in sight, no doubt dealing with his own battles against friends.

Naruto was jousted out of his thoughts as one of his clones collided into him and dispelled. Naruto ran to his guest bedroom and slammed the sliding door wide open. There, on the sleeping mat in front of him, laid Neji struggling with breath. Naruto's breath hitched as he realized that Neji was indeed still alive. Last night his friend failed to kill him, but Naruto did not fail in killing him. Neji's eyes were now useless and the seal on his forehead was gone. After Neji died last night Naruto revived him and nursed him back into the living world.

Naruto used several clones to send for his sensei and Tsunade Senju, but he knew that they wouldn't be to his home any time soon. Naruto lived out in the middle of nowhere and very few knew where he lived. Even his master sometimes lost his way out to Naruto's home.

Naruto knelt down beside his friend and took his hand. "How are you feeling?" Naruto asked while his face descended into sadness.

Neji took a deeper breath than normal and wheezed sickly, "W-hy a-m I still." He coughed violently before he started wheezing heavily again. Naruto squeezed his hand to which he squeezed back weakly.

"Alive? I told you. Even though you may betray me, I will never betray you. I will stay by your side until the end," Naruto spoke with fervor and used his other hand to dip a cloth into water and set it on Neji's head.

Neji smiled as he wheezed more, and then coughed out, "Idiot." Naruto created two more clones and they ran off to complete important tasks. Namely, scout for his masters, and to retrieve more herbs for Neji.

-[===]-

Deep within the Hidden Leaf Village a darkly clad man dropped down from the rooftops and into a window of a mansion. This was the Hokage's mansion where each Hokage came to live during and after their time in office. It was protected constantly by the Hokage's guards and no one was allowed in or out, unless someone knew their way around the guards. It was dark out and the time of day was a little past midnight. The Hokage, Tsunade Senju, was dozing peacefully in her study.

Naruto ran silently down the hallways and used a mid-level genjutsu to conceal his shadow and body. Naruto found Tsunade and opened the door slightly. This prompted four of her guards to surround Tsunade in a defensive perimeter and for Tsunade herself to wake up from her light slumber. "Who is there?" Tsunade asked tiredly. Naruto opened the door completely and unclothed his hood. "Oh, Naruto, What brings you to me at such a late hour?" she asked as a yawn escaped her.

"I need to ask you a favor," Naruto said as he walked towards her slowly. Her guards tensed as he approached. Naruto took notice of this, stopped approaching, and sat down cross legged in front of her guards and Tsunade.

"Ah. I see. What might this favor be?" Tsunade asked curiously. Tsunade was one of the leaders of the resistance. Her influence was deep and wide. She controlled almost half the village with the help of the other leaders of the resistance. She took a minute to lift her chilled tea and took a drink of it tiredly.

"I need you to heal a friend," Naruto said without smiling or frowning. His poker face was one that didn't give away any emotion other than eagerness to talk, or fight if it comes down to that.

"Who might your friend be?" Tsunade asked. "If they are a part of the rebellion then I cannot. It would go against the rules," she added on with a smirk. Naruto frowned at this. His poker face was gone. "Yes. We know you have friends in the rebels. It is no secret that you get around quite a bit," she answered his unasked question.

"His name is Neji Hyuuga," Naruto told her, to which she interrupted abruptly.

"Neji! What happened to him? Last I heard he was on a scouting mission!" Tsunade burst out as she set her tea cup down. It wouldn't do to spray tea everywhere.

"He was sent out to assassinate me," Naruto explained as he looked at her angrily. Tsunade frowned at him before sighing and rubbing her temples. At her silence, Naruto continued, "I stabbed him in his liver as he tried to attack me. He's alive but he's lost a lot of blood and his body is poisoning itself." Tsunade frowned further.

"I didn't order this," Tsunade told him.

"I know. I have my suspicions on who did," Naruto replied as guards surrounded him.

"I do as well, however, I cannot help him. I am bound here and you are not allowed within the walls of Kohona. I highly doubt you are even the original Naruto," Tsunade replied before she took another sip of tea. "Naruto. You are a missing ninja. You abandoned us when we needed you. What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked.

Naruto scoffed at her before grinning. "Your guess is right. I am a clone. If you will not help then I'll take my leave. As for your question, even though you may abandon me, I will not abandon you. If you need me then all you have to do is call, but it had better be for a good reason," Naruto replied before the clone popped out of existence. Tsunade sighed and stood up.

"That idiot."

-[===]-

Another clone not far away resumed the search for help. Tsunade was not the only healer in the village. In fact the top three were Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura. A year after the rebellion first started Sakura defected the rebels to join the resistance, where she gained an apprenticeship with Tsunade in learning the healing arts. Even though Sakura returned to the Leaf Village Naruto could never trust her again. She was one of the major reasons why he left the village to begin with, but that is a story for another time.

The clone traveled the village silently and undetected. Shizune was the only remaining healer he trusted enough to help him. He found her in her cottage located in the Nara's land. He silently dropped down in front of her door and knocked politely. Naruto respected Shizune and even looked up to her as a potential mate. She was strong, smart, sexy, and knew how to win hearts without violence if her time spent traveling the country side with Tsunade was any indicator.

The door opened to find Shizune donning a towel around her midriff and a towel wrapped around her head. The Nara land was a dense forest that barely saw any visitors unless they were invading. If they were invaders then they wouldn't bother knocking beforehand. "Naruto?" Shizune asked in confusion and her body tensed. "What brings you here to me?" she asked as she held the towel wrapped around her body tighter.

"I need your help," Naruto said as he removed his hood. Shizune sighed before she stepped to the side to let him in.

"You know that everyone in the resistance is on order to capture you if seen, right?" She asked as he walked into the door. Naruto laughed at her as he stood inside the threshold.

"You wouldn't capture me, would you?" Naruto looked at her with a frown and pouted at her. She scoffed at him and slapped his shoulder lightly.

"I don't think I can to be honest with you. You are to strong and smart for me to keep up with," she told him before she walked to her bedroom. "Give me a minute to get dressed," she told him and shut the door. Naruto wandered around the cottage as she dressed herself and looked at the plain looking décor. There was a picture of herself, Tsunade, and Tonton, her little pet pig. Naruto smiled at the photo. It was from her traveling days. Next there was a photo of herself, Tsunade, Jiraiya, himself, and Tonton. It came from the three years that Naruto travelled abroad with Jiraiya, his master, and the other people in the picture. Of course they only traveled together for a few months until Tsunade finally decided to return to the Leaf Village and take up the mantle of Hokage from the Third Hokage. Jiraiya and Naruto continued on their adventures and training.

Shizune entered the room as Naruto reminisced on simpler times. "So what is it you needed?" Shizune asked which turned Naruto's attention from his thoughts.

"I need you to heal someone for me. His liver is damaged and he's on death's door," Naruto explained to which Shizune nodded.

"I see, and where is he at? Also, who is he?" Shizune asked.

"Neji Hyuuga. He is at my home, well, soon to be abandoned home," Naruto told her. The name seemed to ring a bell in Shizune's mind because her eyes lit up in recognition.

"What is he doing there!? I signed off on a scouting mission last night for him!" Shizune hissed before she ran around the cottage gathering things. Naruto watched her for a few seconds before she stopped in the middle of the room and glared at him. "Do continue!"

"He tried to assassinate me," Naruto told her. She tripped from the trot she was in and landed on the floor hard. Naruto watched her get up as she looked up at him shocked.

"But he was your sworn companion for the war!" Shizune yelled as stuffed her gathered ingredients into a backpack.

"Yes, I know," Naruto frowned and looked away from her. A year after the civil war started the resistance was losing their shinobi at rapid numbers. A war on their home turf fought against their friends, or previous friends, made it almost impossible for resistance shinobi to defend their selves as they slept. In order counter this every shinobi was assigned a partner who watched the other partner as they slept. Once implemented the number of deaths dropped dramatically and the civil war turned into a cold war with great massacres.

"Who is your companion?" Naruto asked curiously. Shizune looked at him before smirking.

"Oh, I don't have one. I was always with Tsunade up until a year ago," Shizune told him. Naruto shook his head and sighed.

"If you come with me then you will be considered a missing ninja," Naruto told her. Shizune faltered. She wasn't thinking along those lines. She was thinking that an ally was hurt and he needed healing, which was the truth, but the politics of the situation made it harder. It was indeed a rule that if you left the village unannounced and without permission then you would become a missing ninja and would be hunted down and killed.

"Does Tsunade know?" Shizune asked.

"She knows that Neji is injured, yes, she does not know that I am asking for your help," Naruto replied.

"I will go ask for her permission to leave immediately," Shizune asked as she slid her backpack on and ran out the door. She ran back a few seconds later, "Stay here!" She ran off again at once.

-[===]-

Shizune plodded into Tsunade's study where she was lightly dozing again. The guard, who knew Shizune well, didn't react to her presence. "Master!" Shizune cried out as she kneeled down in front of Tsunade.

Tsunade stirred from her slumber with a yawn and looked at the fully packed Shizune. "What is it Shizune? Why are you packed?" Tsunade asked in confusion. Shizune wasn't one to leave the village. In fact, Tsunade couldn't remember the last time Shizune left the village since they returned four and a half years ago.

"I am requesting permission to leave with Naruto to heal Neji!" Shizune asked her, but to Tsunade it sounded more like a demand. Tsunade frowned. She wanted to help Neji but Neji was now in the care of Naruto, who was a missing Ninja now. Any talk of working with Naruto would cause the resistance to go into an uproar. Naruto hadn't been a part of the village for almost an entire year now.

Naruto was out traveling with his master for the first three years of the civil war. Upon returning, Naruto was assigned to be Neji's sworn companion, and Neji to Naruto. Everything went swell up until the massacre of the civilians. In this massacre the civilian clans who supported the resistance were killed by the rebels, and in retaliation the resistance led an attack on the civilian clans who supported the rebels in order to even out the odds. This tore Naruto up to see his people and friends dying for petty reasons.

Naruto left after the massacre and wanted nothing to do with the resistance or the rebellion. He took himself out of the solution when the resistance leaders, at the massacre of the civilians, asked Naruto to kill the rebels using the Kyuubi. Naruto refused. Naruto disappeared shortly after and went as far as Iwa fighting off ninja who were trailing him. After the Hunter Ninja who pursued him lost him in Iwa, his trail went cold until now.

"Permission granted," Tsunade replied before adding onto her mission, "I want you to spy on Naruto and to send regular updates on his doings and connections. Do not leave his side. I can trust you with this, can I?"

"Yes Master," Shizune bowed before standing up. "Anything else?"

"No. Be quick. I would hate to see Neji die of blood poisoning," Tsunade replied.

-[===]-

Naruto smiled from Neji's side. Another one of his clones just dispelled and told him that Shizune was on the way to heal his friend. Neji, on the other hand, was not doing well. He was struggling to breath and had a bad fever. Naruto had clones out searching the forest for herbs that will help his symptoms but progress was slow. Neji faced towards Naruto and coughed.

"Why did you leave the village?" Neji asked curiously. One minute they were together, and then Naruto was called to the council meeting. Then he was just gone.

"I left because they asked me to commit genocide," Naruto told him as he replaced the clammy cloth on his forehead. Neji grunted and grabbed Naruto's wrist.

"What? Genocide?" Neji replied as he held Naruto's wrist.

"They wanted me to kill the Uchiha, Inuzuka, and Aburame clan in its entirety," Naruto explained as he used the other hand to lift a bowl of water to Neji's hands. "Sit up. You need to drink," Naruto told him, to which Neji responded by struggling to sit up a bit. He fell back down through the effort and Naruto sighed. "Don't move," Naruto said as he held the bowl up to his lips and tilted it a bit.

Neji took eager sips from the bowl and coughed up whatever didn't go down right. "There is no way they would ask something that impossible of you!" Neji replied slowly. Naruto laughed and shook his head.

"They did. They wanted me to pull the Kyuubi out of the seal and to smite their enemies," Naruto smiled wickedly at the memory. "I left after rejecting them. I refuse to kill our previous allies. They are not beyond saving," Naruto continued before settling down cross-legged beside Neji.

Neji yawned in exhaustion and coughed more. He felt horrible, and what's worse was that he was blind. Neji Hyuuga died, and upon death his Caged Bird Seal destroyed his eyes, but Neji still lived. "I don't know why you are keeping me alive. I am useless," Neji spoke his mind as he leaned his head towards the sound of Naruto's breathing.

Naruto frowned at his words and spoke aloud, "You? No. You are never useless. Don't think that way!"

"I am blind! I am dying! I _am a fool!_" Neji yelled out before he descended into a coughing fit. Naruto let him calm down before replying.

"You are no fool. I apologize that you are blind, and that you are dying, but those are problems that I am to fix," Naruto told him and laid his hand on his shoulder. After a few seconds Neji's hand rose and gripped Naruto's hand.

"You are the bigger fool. Healing your assassin? Hah," Neji told him as he fought off the coughs.

"You did not choose to be my assassin. You had no choice but to attempt to kill me. It was either this, or death," Naruto said as he pulled his hand away. "I'm not angry at you, Neji. No. I am angry at your Uncle. _Hiashi_," Naruto told him and stood up.

"I will be back. Shizune is coming from the Village to help heal you back to health. Please do not go anywhere," Naruto said before walking out of the room.

"Hah, not like I could go anywhere anyways," Neji coughed out violently before turning his head the opposite direction Naruto last spoke. "I am blind, you idiot."

-[===]-


	2. You're a Troublemaker, Naruto!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 2**

_You're a Troublemaker, Naruto!_

The Council Chambers was filled to the brim with the leaders of the resistance. Amongst their ranks was Kakashi Hatake, Tsunade Senju, Jiraiya the Toad Sennin, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yanamaka, Choza Akimichi, Hiashi Hyuuga, and Hiruzen Sarutobi. The elder members of the council, who served for many years before hand, sided with the rebels and were no longer a part of the Council. Many secrets were lost with the departure of those members but there was nothing anyone could do about it now.

Tsunade openly glared at Hiashi Hyuuga. "You sent an assassin after Naruto!" she accused him angrily. Even though Naruto was no longer a part of Leaf, his loyalty was to Leaf and Tsunade valued him as a person.

Hiashi stared blankly at Tsunade before replying, "Why does that matter now? The assassin has failed and is dead." The other members of the council looked at Hiashi in shock, especially Jiraiya and Kakashi. Jiraiya was still on speaking terms with the blond but couldn't believe that he left the village. Naruto's position caused a rift to open between everyone in the village and himself. Kakashi hasn't talked to Naruto since the night he departed and felt that Naruto was being childish.

"You can't kill him! He is too valuable!" Shikaku said in order to interrupt the oncoming storm of arguments. Hiashi laughed at the statement.

"He abandoned us and refuses to do as we tell him. He is a broken soldier thanks to this man," Hiashi replied as he squared his glare to Jiraiya, who just glared harder at Hiashi. "As long as he is not under our thumb then he can potentially be under the thumb of our allies and we can't have that. We have lost too much strength with his departure," Hiashi explained.

"Naruto visited me last night," Tsunade countered, "He was searching for help for his dying assassin. Neji Hyuuga. You are aware that you sent his sworn companion to kill him?" Tsunade was livid that Hiashi would do something so evil as to send someone who was bound to your clan for life to kill the man who has protected you for a year.

"Yes, I am. Who could better complete the job than Neji? Naruto trusted Neji. It was his weakness," Hiashi explained further while purposely neglecting to comment on Neji's status. If Neji was alive then he would have to send more assassins after Neji to silence him. Neji was his right hand man.

The council fell into silence as everyone gathered their thoughts. Hiashi had valid reasons for wanting Naruto's death even if half the council didn't agree with him. The council received a report two weeks ago that Naruto was talking with the rebels. "Why did you not capture Naruto while he was in the village?" Inoichi questioned Tsunade.

"Have you tried to capture the brat? He's impossible to pin down. He's never in Kohona in the flesh. He sends shadow clones anywhere he feels is a threat to his freedom," Jiriaya asked while shaking his head at the unpleasant memories of him attempting to track down his apprentice after his departure. The shadow clown jutsu was Naruto's strongest and most weakest technique.

"Is that what happened last night?" Inoichi asked for confirmation. Tsunade nodded and Inoichi continued talking, "Why is it that we can't track him down? I have yet to see someone hide from our network for so long." This statement was indeed true. Jiriaya's spy network kept close tabs on the enemies of Kohona.

"I too am curious as to why we cannot capture the Jinchuriki," Hiashi spoke up as he looked to Tsunade. "Are you and this toad hiding him?" he asked suspiciously. Tsunade sighed. The council has already went through this discussion many times and it was a constant suspicion because three members of the council were close to Naruto.

"I have sent every resource available to track down the whereabouts of Naruto, but it seems that my resources weren't needed since you found him, Hiashi," Tsunade replied. The whole council turned to Hiashi after that. Hiashi did indeed know his whereabouts, but only because Neji knew his whereabouts.

"He is nestled down in a valley approximately fifty kilometers northeast from here," Hiashi relinquished the information. Personally, he wanted Naruto dead. Two years ago Naruto made it his business to meddle in Hyuuga clan business and now his first born daughter was kidnapped and his second born daughter was named his heir. Hinata was engaged to Kiba Inuzuka and no longer lived with the Hyuugas.

"I will send Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru to capture him," Tsunade told everyone before standing up.

"No," Hiashi replied and stood up as well, "You will not send _his friends_ to capture him. He will just avoid them because he knows their skillsets. You will send a Hyuuga as well." Tsunade looked back at Hiashi and glared openly.

"No, I will not. I will send the team that I wish to send. I am your Hokage," Tsunade replied bitterly.

"Very well. Then I will send a team of my best hunters after him as well, but if I capture him then he will be made to destroy our enemies or he will face death," Hiashi countered. The council focused their gaze on Tsunade for her reply. Even though she was Hokage, she no longer had the power to shut down the other council members. Civil war changed the politic world a lot.

"Fine," Tsunade hissed out before she glared at the rest of the council, "Dismissed."

-[===]-

Naruto looked out the door from bedroom that Neji was in. Neji was asleep and fitful. His mind was wandering on the upcoming days and worry flooded his senses as he jumped and spooked from every abnormal sound of the forest. If Neji was sent to kill him then that meant his home was now known to the resistance. Their attempts to get him to rejoin them killed quite a few of his clones at first, but he now knew how to avoid their agents better. The attempts showed him two things, one, that he was being targeted for capture, and two, that he was being targeted for death.

Naruto kept his friendship with Neji because he trusted the dark haired man. Even with Neji's failed assassination on him he still trusted Neji now more than before. Neji was now free of his caged bird seal, but he was teetering on death's door every hour. Naruto understood well that Neji didn't want to kill Naruto and that Neji had no choice in the matter at the time. Neji was a slave and often times Naruto had to tag along with him to complete some of Hiashi's dirty work.

What bothered Naruto the most is that he was sure that Hiashi knew of the location of his home now, and that soon the rest of the nation would know as well. Time was now ticking down on the enemy's arrival to his home in more attempts to either capture or kill Naruto. He wondered if Neji to would be targeted for death due to his previous position.

Naruto stared at the treeline where he was certain that Shizune would appear from. Neji writhed in pain suddenly and threw up bile. Naruto shifted his attention to his friend and helped him roll over so that he doesn't choke on the bile in his throat. The night continued on as Naruto summoned clones to clean the bile and to scout the area surrounding the house. Just as Neji was settling down again, Naruto heard a rustle near the treeline and he immediately pulled out a Kunai and summoned twenty clones to form a perimeter.

He tensed as noisy footsteps crunched the grass in the valley and progressed slowly towards his house. If this was an assassination attempt then Naruto was not impressed. Even Neji was able to approach his home silently. He listened closely to the footsteps as they came closer and a young female came into the light of his lanterns. Her dark black hair fell to her shoulders unruly. She wore a robe that was tied around her waist, fishnet around her chest in order to bind them properly, and pants that stretched over her legs and hips. Shizune has arrived.

Naruto appeared at her side as his clones disappeared. "Shizune-chan!" Naruto cried happily as he wrapped his arms around her. Shizune, who was not expecting the sudden embrace, clenched her body tight and prepared herself for a fight. Naruto didn't let go until she relaxed. It was a lesson he learned the hard way.

"Ah! Naruto! You scared me!" Shizune sighed and gave him a hug back. "Why do you live all the way out here by yourself? Jeeze, it must be lonely," she complained as she waded through the knee-high grass. Naruto just smirked as he walked quietly beside her. The secret to silence in an environment like this was to simply not wear shoes. Feet were the quietest tool in the wild.

"It isn't that bad. I feel like it's more safe out here than it is to shack up in the village," Naruto replied to her before his face grew grim. "Come on! Neji isn't doing too good!" Naruto replied before he picked her up and carried her to the house. Shizune yelped at his sudden actions. At one time she was use to them, during the three months they spent together, but now they just made her gear up for a fight. Shizune tried to calm herself in his arms. She was here to help, not to bicker endlessly like they use to do.

Naruto set her down on the patio outside of the bedroom and pointed towards Neji, who was breathing as if he held a big load on his chest, and asked, "Are you okay? Do you need some water or something?" Shizune looked at Naruto before looking at Neji.

"Bring me some water and food," she said before she walked forward and kneeled down before Neji. Naruto summoned clones to fetch the things she needed as she used Chakra to diagnose Neji.

"Neji, can you hear me?" Shizune asked as she moved her glowing hands up and down his chest. Neji's eyes opened and his face turned towards the sound of her face, but his eyes held a focus less gaze. He was blind. His usual milky-white eyes were now grey and blackened near the middle of his irises. Shizune gasped, "You're blind!"

Naruto looked away shamefully and walked to the edge of the patio. Neji's face pointed in his direction and he coughed more. "Yes, I can hear you Shizune. I know Naruto has called you hear to heal me, but let me die please," he requested calmly as he focused back on Shizune. Naruto turned around in shock.

"What? No!" Naruto rejected his request and Shizune looked up at him. Naruto didn't bring a med-ninja all the way out in the boonies and to stick his neck out for nothing. Not to mention that he valued Neji's friendship and comradeship above all else. Neji never betrayed him unless he was forced to due to Hiashi.

"Naruto. I am blind! I am of no further use to you, for the village, or to myself!" Neji yelled before he descended into an angry fit of coughing. "I cannot live with myself or with what I've done," he continued after the fit calmed down. Neji laid his head down tiredly and finished talking, "I just want to rest. The souls of those I've killed will have their revenge in the afterlife."

Naruto growled. He stomped over to Neji, kneeled down, and grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards his chest angrily. "Those deaths are not on your hands. They are on mine! I refused to act so instead they sent you!" Naruto hissed out as Neji opened his eyes again and faced Naruto down. Neji put his forehead against Naruto's and sighed tiredly. He didn't have the energy to fight with Naruto. He was sick, and tired, and near death.

Shizune backed up once Naruto stomped over. She wasn't sure what was going on between the two men but it was obvious that they had a difference in opinion. Naruto dropped Neji back to the ground, stood up straight, and looked back to Shizune. "Please ignore him. He is not in the right frame of mind," Naruto told her calmly but she could see the agitation just under the surface of his skin.

"I am still blind, you idiot," Neji crooned out weakly. Naruto looked back down at him with determination beaming in his eyes.

"That sounds like an excuse. You may be blind, but you are not dead. We can only fix one problem at a time," Naruto told him before he turned around and walked out of the room. Shizune watched his departure and struggled with the emotions bubbling in her chest. Even when she stayed with Naruto for three months, she could never get use to the explosive conflicts that happens when in his presence, nor the forever lasting optimism he lead himself and others with. Shizune kneeled back down next to Neji and began to repair his punctured liver. There was no cure for the poison in his blood. He would just have to live through it and recover naturally.

-[===]-

Jiriaya sat down tiredly into the hot springs on their side of Kohona. Kohona was hardly safe anymore for any shinobi, but the village was divided up into two distinct parts for now: the part where the rebels dwelled and the part where the resistance dwelled. It was impossible to keep the two parts away from each other so each side was tense and bloodshed happened daily. Both sides tried many times to force the other out but they would find new and unique ways to hold their grounds.

Jiriaya closed his eyes to relax his stress filled mind for just a minute. When he opened them a blond haired man was sitting on the rocky edge beside him. The man donned a towel wrapped around his waist and a goofy grin was plastered on his face. "Ugh, Naruto," Jiriaya sighed out as he laid his head back and shut his eyes again. Naruto was no threat to him. If anything the blond would protect his hide as he rested. Jiriaya relaxed further.

"Hello pervy sensei," Naruto spoke aloud as he kicked his legs in the water. Clones of Naruto enjoyed the same things that the original did, and Naruto loved taking baths in hot springs.

"What brings you to me on this lovely evening?" Jiriaya asked. Jiriaya thought back to a time when Naruto's appearance didn't bring him trouble, but instead money. A smile reached his lips as he thought of all the times the kid interrupted his research sessions.

"I'm afraid that my location has been revealed," Naruto said and frowned at him, "I need information." Jiriaya was the spy master of the village. There was no information that Jiriaya couldn't get a hold of, or didn't already know.

"Ah, yes, that Neji kid was forced into attempting to kill you and revealing your location. I told you not to reveal your location to anyone!" Jiriaya chided him without opening his eyes or moving. Naruto gave him a look of stank and just sighed.

"I know Sensei! That's why you don't know where I live!" Naruto told him while he remained glaring at him. Jiriaya laughed openly and looked at Naruto.

"Now I do! What are you going to do now? You have two teams after your head. One from Tsunade and one from Hiashi," Jiriaya told the blond. Jiriaya didn't want his student to die from stupidity, nor to be forced into killing innocents. Jiriaya desired worldwide peace and believed that peace was a truth. Naruto, who learned about peace, also believed in worldwide peace and desired it.

Naruto was silent for a few minutes as he thought and Jiriaya relaxed again. "I am guessing that Tsunade's team wants to capture me, and Hiashi's team wants to kill me?" Naruto questioned, to which Jiriaya nodded. "I see," Naruto responded before he started thinking even harder. Clones were made with the same mental capacities as the original, and their experiences always flooded back to the original.

"Neji is hurt and blind. I can't leave him to die sensei. Is there any way to cure him?" Naruto asked his sensei. Jiriaya shook his head in negativity.

"The seal that was used on him is set to destroy the eyes upon death. I am guessing that you brought him close to death, which triggered the seal, and then nursed him back to health?" Jiriaya asked as he focused his entire being on Naruto's clone. Naruto nodded. Jiriaya also knew that Shizune was sent along with another clone of Naruto's in order to fully heal Neji. "I've seen the results of the seals the main branch uses on their _slaves_. There is no way to repair the eyes. Tsunade tried on a woman once," Jiriaya answered his question.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his head. "Okay. Plan two. Do you remember that monk we met once who was blind, but was able to sense our position?" Naruto asked. Jiriaya nodded.

"Yeah, he was awesome! He is a master at manipulating Earth Chakra. I met him one time before when he was an adept," Jiriaya replied as a smile graced his lips. Naruto took the man's blindness as a challenge and spent three days attempting to get hits in on the old man.

"I need help finding him. Neji is earth natured, and is now blind," Naruto explained his plan as Jiriaya nodded his head. Jiriaya knew of the general whereabouts of the old man. He lived in the mountainous region of The Fire Country.

"I can't help you find him, but I can tell you where he lives. Go East of the Village until you reach the town Kenji, then travel North on the road until you reach the great flowing river of the Nin-dame. He lives in the mountains on the other side of the river," Jiriaya told him as he settled back down.

"Thanks pervy sensei!" Naruto replied happily and was about to disperse until Jiriaya grabbed his wrist.

"Naruto. Be careful! I know the game you are playing and many before you have played the same game. They lost," Jiriaya warned him, to which Naruto nodded, and then dispersed. Jiriaya sighed and then climbed out of the hot springs. "I can never seem to get a relaxing bath in!"


	3. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Thank you for reading so far! I am enjoying writing this tale as it unfolds. I hope you are enjoying it as well! Please leave a review to let me know what you are enjoying and what you dislike, or even what doesn't make sense because I am sure something will not make sense eventually. **

**Chapter 3**

_He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother! _

After Neji was healed Shizune focused on easing his symptoms. His fever was staying high and his body was shivering with the chills from the night. Naruto came back into the bedroom in the middle of the night with the herbs he had his clones go out and look for and handed them to Shizune.

"What are these?" she questioned curiously. Her master was never too involved with herbal remedies unless it was poison. Shizune, on the other hand, made it her business to learn poisons and cures to the poisons she encountered. However, she never encountered a plant such as this one.

The plant in question was defined by its grass-like characteristics. It didn't have multiple leaves like most herbs or poison flowers do. It was just one blade of grass with ridges in it. The ridges on the grass were sharp enough to draw blood if someone wandered into it carelessly. "It is a variation of lemongrass," Naruto told her as a clone came in with a bowl and a pastel. The clone handed her the tools. "It'll help his body calm down while he fights off the poison," he explained before he turned around and left.

Naruto's senses were on full alert ever since the conversation with Jiriaya took place. He knew that he had a lot of friends and enemies coming for him now. The peace he enjoyed for the year was now over. It was back to fighting. He just didn't know how to break it to Shizune and Neji that they had less than a day to leave the house.

Naruto sent his clones out to scout and do chores. There was a lot to do. He needed to restock the firewood pile, preserve the foundation of the house and maintain it, and patch the roof extra tight so that the building doesn't destroy itself in his absence. Naruto himself followed the patio around the house to the backyard where a giant pond laid.

Naruto, being a Toad Sage, couldn't live anywhere there wasn't a pond that his favorite allies could enjoy while he required their services. This wasn't a requirement he had to agree by to sign the contract, no; this was just how finicky Naruto was. He wanted his Toad friends to be happy around him because in the end they would probably be the only allies he could trust not to stab him in the back. He also couldn't deny that he enjoyed having the pond and that he put fish and less intelligent frogs into the pond as well. It was his favorite project, but now he was having to abandon his part of the valley that Kohona was nestled in.

This angered him. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? Let him be in peace? He didn't desire the bloodshed and control the leaders back in the village did. War brought pain and pain broke people down until they kill relentlessly. Zabuza, in his final moments, came to mind.

Naruto stopped in front of his pond, bit his thumb, and performed the hand signs required to summon a toad. What appeared was a small toad that was proficient in tracking other people down. This particular toad was bred to stay small, but was very intelligent, and extremely patient.

"Hello Naruto. Do you need something?" the toad asked as it fixed its eyes on Naruto.

"Yeah. I have to leave this place but I need to keep tabs on it. Can you sit here for a week and provide me daily updates on who comes and goes?" Naruto asked. The toad, since it was good at tracking, also knew how to remain hidden and spy.

"Gotcha. I'll watch the place like a hawk," the toad replied before looking around and croaking happily at the pond. He jumped into the pond and after a few seconds he came floating back to the top. "Oh, you spoil me!" the toad hummed happily as he kicked around the pool.

Naruto smiled. Mount Myoboku wasn't known for its well-tempered pools. The pools on the Mountain were usually colder and the Toads there mostly enjoyed sun basking more than swimming. It was why there were tons of giant sized rocks and mushrooms on the Mountain, and why the toads made their home there. Naruto returned to Neji's room after securing a belt of scrolls that held supplies for their journey from his clones. Shizune, who looked tired from her journey to the house, looked up at Naruto tiredly. "Rest for now, we leave at sun rise," Naruto told her to which she sighed.

"Why? What's wrong with this place?" Shizune questioned. Neji was unconscious and unable to hear their conversation.

"Hiashi is sending a team of assassins after me, and Neji. Tsunade is sending a team of friends to convince me to return to the village and be a loyal killing machine," Naruto told her nonchalantly as he sat down beside Neji. Naruto sat cross legged on the floor and got comfortable. "There is another pallet in the closet for you to sleep on," Naruto told her as he shut his eyes to meditate.

Shizune retrieved the pallet, set it up, and then asked Naruto, "Why is Hiashi trying to kill you and Neji?" She could understand Tsunade's reasoning. She couldn't lose face with the other leaders if Naruto's whereabouts were found. However, if Shizune was seen with Naruto then that made her a missing ninja just by working with him. Shizune sighed at that revelation.

"Neji knows secrets that could put Hiashi in a bad situation. He is trying to kill me simply because he hates me. I've been a thorn in his side for a long, long time," Naruto explained as he meditated. He then opened his eyes and looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry I got you in this mess," Naruto apologized, "You can run in the opposite direction as me and hope that no one sees you near here, or you can join us and I'll do my best to protect you."

Shizune remained quiet for a good while as her eyes wandered the room. If she left Naruto's side then he would be alone with an injured mate against two squads of ninja, but if she stayed then their chances of survival went up, especially since she was a medic. If she left then she would go against the mission Tsunade gave her, but if stayed then she would be seen in the eyes of many as betraying her village. Shizune sighed, laid down, and said, "I'll stay with you."

She rolled over and put her back to the two men. Naruto opened his eyes, turned his body to her, and asked, "Until the end?" Shizune's eyes opened back up and she turned around to face Naruto. Naruto was asking for loyalty until death. He was asking her to become a permanent ally. A silent minute passed by as she gathered her thoughts. She and Naruto both shared a lot of the same opinions on the current civil war and if she was honest with herself she wasn't happy with her life inside Kohona.

She loved the village and its people, but she hated to see them fight. She was tired of the civil war and of healing the injured innocent people. The massacre of the civilians a year ago caused a big strain between her and her master. One that made Shizune stop talking non-business matters with her master all together. Shizune looked back up to Naruto's eyes and said, "Yes. Until the end."

-[===]-

Shizune came back to the world of conscious thought slowly. The sun was slowly rising over the tree tops and dew shone brightly on every surface of the forest. Naruto stood at the open sliding doors patiently before he turned to her. "Ready to go?" He asked. Shizune nodded in reply. "Alright, wake up Neji!" Naruto called to their sick companion as he came to a kneel beside him.

Neji stirred tiredly, opened his blind eyes, and turned towards Naruto. "Leave me. I'll only slow you down," Neji told him in exhaustion. Naruto laughed at him.

"Do you really think I would leave you behind? No. You will be on my back," Naruto told him as he made him sit up and dress. The seasons were about to change. Already the chill was beginning to gain a hold in the valley. Naruto knew the chill would only get worse the farther they travelled, so he wrapped a blanket around Neji.

"Idiot," Neji coughed out as he accepted the blanket. His fever had fallen at some point the previous night and it left him cold. Neji was too weak to fight against Naruto's plans. "You know that Hiashi will send someone else to kill you, and now me since I am no longer under his thumb," Neji told him seriously.

"They are already on their way," Naruto informed him, "I have contacts in the village that have told me this much. We don't have much time to get a headstart." Neji sighed tiredly at this turn of events. Traveling while sick was hard on the sick person.

"You need to leave me here. I will get you killed!" Neji argued with new vigor. Naruto glared at him but realized that Neji couldn't see his glare. Naruto instead made a 'humph' sound.

"You are going and that's final. I am not leaving you behind!" Naruto bickered back.

"No!" Neji shoved Naruto's hands away angrily. "I am not going to be carried by you through the back country while a squad of tracker ninja is chasing us!" Neji yelled before he broke down into a hard fit of coughs.

Naruto walked out of the room in anger and Shizune watched his retreat. She sighed at the drama going on before she turned to Neji, who was lying back down, and said, "You know that we need to leave now. The more you fight with him the more ground our enemy gains on us." Neji didn't even move his head or body to acknowledge her. He was a stubborn man, raised in a harsh environment and bred into slavery. He done deeds that the sickest of men enjoyed doing. In his eyes he deserved to die for the lives he has taken.

"I know what you've done," Shizune told him and he turned his face in her direction. "It wasn't your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself for their deaths," Shizune continued.

Neji's face remained blank until he spoke, "Their lives are on my hands. I killed them."

Shizune shook her head in disagreement and verbally replied, "No. You were ordered to kill those people. That is the difference between a nuke ninja and a village ninja."

Right then, Naruto walked back into the room and said, "We have to leave. My scouts have dispersed. They are half a day's travel away." Everyone's attention went to Naruto as he knelt down beside Neji and pulled the blanket around him. "There is no more time for our arguing. You're coming and that's final," Naruto said.

Neji resigned to his fate at Naruto's will and sighed tiredly. "Fine, let's go." After ten minutes of adjusting and sealing various things in the room into scrolls, Neji was on Naruto's back and all three of them were on the move.

Naruto decided on a north eastern trek through the major forests of the Fire Country. The trek wouldn't be easy for a civilian, but traveling in the wilderness was only slightly easier for ninja and sometimes harder when they carried injured teammates. "We will cut up north towards the Earth Country and then dart back down towards the Nindame in order to avoid our pursuers," Naruto explained to his friends. Shizune felt uncomfortable with that idea. They would run a great risk of being discovered by their enemies with this path.

"Where are we going exactly?" Shizune asked as they stood on the tall grass in the valley of Naruto's house.

"We're going to the borders of the Lightning Country and the Fire Country. We have to cross the Nindame and follow it until we find a friend," Naruto explained to them. Shizune sighed and tucked her bangs behind her ears.

"That is a dangerous path. We may run into our enemies," Shizune spoke her mind. "It would be safer if we traveled straight up into Iwa's territory," Shizune told him. She spoke in the terms of hidden villages. It was a habit she had from working under Tsunade for so long.

"Iwa is an enemy of mine," Naruto told her, to which she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Why?" she questioned. She didn't know about Naruto's heritage. She was rather young herself, only a few years older than Naruto, and spent much of her teenage and adult life on the road with Tsunade.

"My father slaughtered several platoons of their ninja during the last war," Naruto told her as he began to walk in the path he chose. Shizune's mouth dropped open. She knew of only one person who done a feat like that, the Fourth Hokage. She chased after Naruto since his pace was at a slight jog.

It was impossible for them to tree jump since the trees were so dense and the extra weight of Neji on Naruto's back would cause every branch to snap. Instead they would have to travel by ground, which would leave a definite path to follow, but they had no chance. Naruto was also still barefoot.

"The Fourth is your father?" Shizune asked. Neji remained quiet as they conversed. He wasn't comfortable traveling while being blind yet.

"Yes. He died sealing the Kyuubi into me," Naruto reveled to her. Shizune and Neji both knew about the demon sealed inside Naruto. It made no difference to them.

"Wow. That must've been a shocker to you," Shizune told him as they travelled. Naruto laughed while shaking his head.

"No, not really, what shocked me more was the council's stupidity," Naruto told her.

Shizune smiled at him before saying, "I agree. They had a lot of dumb moments during the Third's reign after the Kyuubi's attack."

-[===]-

Naruto chose to take his companions through the densest part of the back country in hopes of avoiding the teams after them. No doubt the teams would be moving faster than they were, but their job was to find them and in order to do so they had to move faster than Naruto and the group. Naruto hoped that by using the back country and multiple tricks he would throw off their trail.

That is why Naruto sent out five groups of clones to tramp and make noise in five different directions than they were heading. The clones henged as the group and moved in the same manner to throw off any of their trail trackers, but that was only one type of tracker. There were other types of trackers, such as scent, chakra sensor, and vision trackers that were harder to throw off. Naruto wished more for rain than any time in the past.

Naruto stopped the group at a small running creek and set Neji down. "We have to bathe here and cross this stream to throw them off our scent, in case they have an Inuzuka with them," Naruto told them. He wasn't sure who they were sending after him. He just knew there were people after him and it was better to be safe than sorry.

The group didn't argue as they bathed quietly and moved across the river. Naruto had to help Neji due to his weakness but he couldn't help but peeked glances at Shizune's slim and strong form. Shizune tried to shower a little ways away and to keep her front from pointing towards her teammates, but that didn't stop Naruto from getting some peeks in. However, they had no true time to enjoy. They had to move on or risk death.

After the short bath and rearming, Neji was back on Naruto's back and they were back to single file traveling through the dense brush. The group travelled on much of the same for the rest of the day even as the sun descended and the moon came out to play. The chill of the valley came down upon them thrice harder than when they were in Naruto's home and the group had to wrap up in blankets to keep traveling. When the moon was finally high in the sky, Naruto stopped the group and told them that it was too dangerous to continue on for the night.

"The area in front of us is a lot less dense and is filled with underground caves. If we take a wrong step then we will fall into a cavern of caves with no real way of getting out," Naruto told them. He knew of this place because his clones scouted and travelled all across the giant valley that Kohona was settled in. However, going over the dangerous terrain was the quickest path to their destination, and they were being chased so they had no decision.

Neither Neji nor Shizune had anything to say. The day of traveling through the dense brush had left them exhausted and hungry. Naruto gave them ration bars he received from Gaara, which tasted like paste, and told them to get some rest. He would take the watch for the night. He laid Neji down on a mat with a pillow and thick blanket and Shizune lay down beside him. Sleep didn't come to either one of them very quickly. It eventually ended with them talking, but Shizune didn't know what to say or what was appropriate to say to the blind man.

She couldn't talk about the beautiful stars that were out that night, or all of the sights she seen as they travelled that day, or even how ragged they all looked from the dense brush. In the end, it was Neji who spoke first, "Can't sleep?"

"Yeah, I'm tired but not so sleepy," Shizune replied without moving. Silence reigned once more until Shizune spoke up again, "I'm sorry that I can't fix your eyes." She felt guilty that the once proud Hyuuga was now resigned to being carried through the back country and suicidal. She was never close to Neji. Before this turn of events Neji was just another soldier in the resistance to her.

"Don't be," Neji told her as he turned his face towards her voice. "I deserved this," he told her before turning his face back towards the sky. Shizune looked at him in the dark shadows of the night.

"No one deserves blindness," Shizune told him, "especially not you. You have saved countless numbers of Gennin from dying from the rebels just by patrolling when you weren't assigned to." Shizune was the one to issue him orders throughout the years that Naruto was not around. Although she worked directly underneath the Hokage at that time and she issued orders to hundreds of ninja, she remembered the ones that stuck out and Neji was one of them.

Neji shut his eyes and Shizune got no reaction nor reply from him for quite a while. Shizune, in turn, shut her eyes and tried to sleep again. When Neji thought Shizune was finally asleep he spoke again, "Maybe so, but I cannot deny that I feel better with what has happened. If being blind is the consequence of my actions then I will fully accept it because in the end I am free of my cruel master."

Shizune, who was still listening, gave no reaction and continued on acting as if she was asleep, and soon she was truly asleep with Neji's words ringing in her ears. Naruto sat far above in the trees with clones spread far and wide. He overheard the entire conversation.

-[===]-


	4. A Twisty, Curvy Path

**Author's Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter! It was very fun to write. The story's world is expanding drastically and the plot is thickening. **

**Thank you for those who have followed or favorite the story! I see these actions as a sign of support and it excites me to know that you are watching! I will continue to pump out more chapters for you people, even if you never leave a review, because your actions speak louder than words! (On a side note, can I use an exclamation point enough!?)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 4**

_A Twisty, Curvy Path._

On the day before Naruto left his home, Sakura sneaked through the village swiftly like a shadow. A large wall of earth was erected between the rebel's side of the village and the resistance's side of the village. The way itself was futile since every ninja who was Chunnin and above could climb the wall using chakra, but the wall was erected in one of the many great battles and remained there for peace of mind today.

The civilians have since then dug a hole through the wall and made pathways through it, but these pathways were well protected by both sides and created chokepoints for defense. The wall was otherwise impossible to defend, but oddly enough deaths dropped once the wall went up. Many people assumed that since the ninja no longer had to look at each other than they were less likely to kill each other, and in a way these people were right.

Sakura approached an unknown portion of the wall that was located in one of the many training grounds spread through the village. She scurried through the bushes and trees until she reached the wall and then walked right through it. Yes, through it. This portion of the wall was a master genjutsu constructed by the Uchiha's best genjutsu masters. This passage has existed since the wall came up and it has provided countless uses for many of the rebel spies who stayed in the resistance.

Sakura continued on hurrying through the now dense streets of the rebel's side. A hood hid her appearance and headband. She dressed in typical civilian clothing that showed no patch of skin anywhere. After ten minutes of traveling Sakura stopped in front of a double door with two guards standing out front.

"What do you want, peasant?" one of the guards crooned out angrily. The guards, who protected the main branch of the Uchiha, became increasingly aggressive and upset as the war continued. So much so that they had to be taken off of guard duty every few days or else they would lose their temper. They were scarred and battered from the many attacks on the Uchiha's residence and stronghold, previously known as the Uchiha Clan Compound. Now the compound was a stronghold and a maze of utilities, supplies, weapons, and apartments for the clan.

"I am here to see Lord Uchiha," Sakura replied as she bowed and offered the back of her hand to them. She channeled chakra into the back of her hand and an Uchiha fan appeared. It showed her loyalty and her status as a high priority spy.

"Right away then," the guard replied as he opened the door. Sakura ran in without another thought and weaved her way through the dense population inside to the Uchiha Manor. After another ten minutes of talking and hurriedly walking she found herself kneeling in the grass in front of Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha clan.

Fugaku was a stubborn man who pitted the Uchiha against Kohona. He led the rebels mercilessly and strived to take over Kohona as a whole. He wanted the resistance to die so that he led the village with no problems or qualms from the other clan leaders. Fugaku and his eldest son, Itachi, were sitting down inside of a dojo at a small table drinking tea. They were discussing future battle plans when they received word of Sakura and then she was escorted in. Fugaku knew Sakura well. She was one of his best spies and always brought the information that changed the tides in the war to their favor. He also knew that she wanted to married his youngest son, Sasuke, so he used that to his advantage to make her into a spy by promising Sasuke's hand in marriage if she returned to the resistance and spied for them.

"Sakura, what is it?" Fugaku asked to get straight to the point. She wouldn't bother visiting in person if the information wasn't important.

"Lord Fugaku, Naruto's position has been found. Tsunade and Hiashi are sending teams after him. We are leaving in an hour," Sakura explained quickly. Fugaku's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Naruto has stayed well hidden for an entire year since he left the resistance. Personally, Fugaku was glad that Naruto left the village. He wielded too much power for just one person and previously he was on the enemy's side.

"I see. Are you on the team leaving to retrieve him?" Fugaku asked.

"Yes I am, Lord Fugaku. Naruto's home is located roughly fifty kilometers northeast of the village," Sakura said. Tsunade let it slip where his home was in order to allow her ninjas proper preparations. She never once thought that one of them was a spy.

"You did a good job Sakura. Itachi, take Sasuke, Kiba, and Hinata, and go capture the Jinchuriki. With his help we can crush those fools in the council and retake what is rightfully ours," Fugaku said as he turned his attention to Itachi.

"If I may ask, why Kiba and Hinata?" Itachi questioned, to which Fugaku looked at his son with little patience.

"They have known ties with Naruto and they are loyal to us. If they can convince Naruto to join the rebels then we won't have to force him to kill the council," Fugaku explained. "Now go. You both are dismissed," Fugaku said as he returned to his tea and battle reports that were forgotten on the table. Both Sakura and Itachi disappeared without further noise. They both learned it wasn't worth it to bring the temper of Fugaku down onto one self.

-[===]-

Naruto looked down at his companions worriedly. Both of them were awake and preparing to break camp, but Naruto had an increasingly bad feeling about today. The clones that he sent off as decoys never dispelled and he had confirmation that they would have pursuers yesterday. It was almost as if they weren't being followed and that little misconception worried him more than the potential powers they were sending after him.

Regardless of this, Naruto knew there was no other path for them to take other than over the dangerous surface of the cavern system. If they walked around then they would be giving their pursuers time to catch up, and if they took a wide birth around it then they would go so far off course that it would take a day or two to find the correct paths to avoid their pursuers. That is if they could see their pursuers before the they saw them.

Naruto dropped down to the ground and kneeled beside Neji so that he could climb on. Shizune, who was supposed to help the blind man climb on, started talking angrily, "Naruto! You should've waked me up for a shift in the watch last night! You know that sleep deprivation is a thing!" Naruto's ears twitched at her fuming and he smirked.

"I know Shizune-_chan,"_ Naruto said sweetly, "but I really need you well rested. The sleep the night before was like a nap and you've been traveling since Kohona." Shizune's mouth went agape and her cheeks slightly filled with color. Her anger was detracted and her body language seemed to become neutral when before it was all aggression. "Please help me with Neji," Naruto asked which broke her out of her stupor.

Shizune remained quiet as she helped Neji onto Naruto's back and once she grabbed her pack they were off again starting their treacherous walk over the surface of the cavern system. Naruto forbade them from running across the five mile hike over the cavern system. It was highly dangerous and he knew from experience due to his clones scouting the area before. He lost more clones going over this cavern system than he lost fighting during a year.

The great large trees of the Fire Country faded away to a terrain that was filled with holes, giant puddles of water, and arid surfaces. Brown half-dead grass grown in some places where there wasn't a hole and Naruto followed the grass. The grass marked the safest path to go over the terrain, but not always. Where there was grass there was usually solid ground enough to support their weight. Their hike didn't stay silent as Naruto, Shizune, and Neji started conversing with each other.

"Watch out for holes, or parts that look like a dried up puddle. Those spots are the worst since they are a straight drop down," Naruto explained as they travelled past a rather large hole that they couldn't see the bottom of. Shizune looked on in wonder while Neji remained quiet.

"What is this place? Why is it like this?" Shizune asked as she followed behind Naruto not-so-closely. She was afraid that their combined weight on a piece of land would make them collapse into the caverns below. She already caused a few holes to appear from her own feet straying too far from the grass. She couldn't imagine what it was like down in the dark abysses.

"I wondered about that myself when I first found this area. The Fire Country use to be the home to various great and intelligent animals, namely the Snakes, Slugs, Frogs, and the Monkeys. All of them continue to live in the Country in various areas. This area is home, or was the home, to the great snake clan," Naruto told his companions. This held Shizune's interest completely to the point that she was following behind him more closely.

"So, like Orochimaru's summons came from here?" Shizune asked curiously. The origin of her master's summoning contract was a mystery to Shizune, and even where the summons came from was a mystery. This meant that Orochimaru's summoning contract, of whom they came to blows with, was a mystery to her as well.

"Yes. This is the area where Orochimaru first found his summons and coerced them into a summoning contract," Naruto told her as she gasped from the information.

"Are they still here then?" Shizune asked almost fearfully. She came to blows with the snake summons several times in the past while traveling with her master and she wanted nothing to do with the blood thirsty snakes.

"I'm afraid not," Naruto replied as he jumped over a particularly suspicious patch of dirt. Shizune walked right onto the patch and had to jump off of the crumbling surface in order to resist falling into the cavern below. She looked down the hole she almost fell in and saw the bottom approximately fifty yards down.

"Ouch," Shizune said aloud as she turned back to Naruto, who was waiting for her, and started to follow after him again. "Why did they leave this area?" she asked curiously.

"They left about fifteen years ago, right around the time I was born," Naruto told her as he smiled. Neji just remained quiet. He wasn't one to talk when he had nothing to input, but he enjoyed Naruto's stories and the companionship he offered. "They left the area for good when Orochimaru became a missing ninja. Although at that point I believe their departure was long overdue. The landscape couldn't support their adaption to chakra, thanks to Orochimaru, since the chakra made them larger and since they became larger their appetite grew as well. Without Orochimaru around to feed them they grew hungry and attacked human settlements. The Country, shinobi and samurai alike, both came together to drive the snakes out of the land they inhabited for thousands of years. Now, I don't know where they are at, but I know that they are bad news and that Orochimaru is actively feeding them sacrifices in order to keep their loyalty and longevity," Naruto said as they travelled the barren landscape that when compared to the lush forests they just came from looked very uninhabitable for humans.

They fell silent as each person dwelled on their thoughts and the story. All three of them felt particularly powerless when it came to issues that dealt with Orochimaru. He was a villain in every sense of the word. He couldn't be reasoned with positively and he committed his life to crime and experimentation. Neji, who never had to face Orochimaru head on, had only heard stories about him but even then he didn't want to face the Snake Sannin alone.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped as a small dog with the headband of the Leaf Village strapped to its head appeared and sat down in front of Naruto. Naruto cursed his rotten luck as he crouched down in order to move quickly if need be. "Hello Naruto!" the small dog said cheerfully. Naruto knew this dog. It was his sensei's summon.

"Hello, Pakkun," Naruto said somewhat reluctantly. He didn't want a fight, but if Pakkun was in front of him then that meant Kakashi and whoever he had with him wasn't far off. Shizune fought her way to stand beside Naruto on solid ground as she looked at the dog.

"Pakkun? Isn't that Kakashi's summon?" Shizune asked as she looked down at the dog.

"Yes," Naruto said bluntly as he looked around. "We have to move," Naruto told her as his eyes darted around for a good escape route or potential enemies.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Pakkun told the blond. "You see, Kakashi had me go ahead and set up a trap. You walked right into it," the little dog said as his stub of a tail wagged happily. "I'm sorry Naruto," Pakkun said as he jumped backwards and the floor collapsed in a twenty yard circle around them.

Curse words flew out of Naruto's mouth as he and his companions fell into the caverns below. The landing was rough for all of them. Naruto, who had Neji on his back, landed awkwardly on his legs. As he landed he break and pain flooded his vision. Shizune landed awkwardly as well, but not as bad as Naruto. Her right leg was sprained from the fall but that was it for her. Neji landed on top of Naruto, who broke his fall, and sustained no injuries.

"Gah!" Naruto cried out painfully as he fell on his butt and onto Neji. Naruto leaned back onto Neji and grabbed his leg painfully. The leg was bent at an awkward angle but nothing was protruding the skin's surface on the leg.

"Shizune!" Neji called out as his arms pulled Naruto to his chest. He used one arm to follow Naruto's arms and found that they led to his leg. "Naruto's leg is hurt!" Neji called out again slightly panicked. Normally, before he went blind nothing would panic him, but now, the world was different. He was blind.

"Give me a minute!" Shizune called out. She was a few yards away healing her sprained ankle so that she could climb the rubble to them. Naruto moaned out in pain again as the Kyuubi's chakra burned through his chakra coils a bit deeper. Neji felt the chakra stirring inside Naruto. He knew the role that Kyuubi took up for Naruto. The role of medic, however the Kyuubi's chakra had a double edge to it. Just as much as it could heal, it could destroy, so it tired Naruto out to heal by using the Kyuubi's chakra. His wounds would heal up but Naruto's own chakra would have to start producing double what it was producing in order to counteract the damage the Kyuubi's chakra dealt to his chakra coils. In a way the Kyuubi's chakra was beneficial to the physical body, but harmful to the chakra system inside of Naruto, which also linked to various other things such as emotions and the senses.

"Calm down Naruto," Neji told him as he forcibly pulled Naruto's hands away from his legs. Naruto fought his touch which eventually turned into an embrace as Neji pulled Naruto's arms to his chest. Naruto's body was hot, a side effect to the Kyuubi's chakra, and he pushed against Neji in attempts to free himself. Eventually, Naruto laid his head back against Neji's chest and panted tiredly. Neji was strong. He trained against Rock Lee for years almost religiously.

It wasn't that Naruto couldn't get free. No, he could devise a way to get free easily. It was that his vision was swimming red with the sudden influx of demonic chakra and the demon's voice was flooding his ears with laughter and insults to his intelligence. "Le' me go Neji," Naruto said as he squirmed against his friend.

"No, not until Shizune gets here," Neji said as he heard Shizune start moving again. At least, he hoped it was Shizune. "Your hands on your leg aren't going to help it heal any better. Remember that one time you ended up mending your leg the wrong way, and we had to break it again?" Neji asked. Naruto sighed.

"That was one time! Do you have any idea how many times my leg has been broken?" Naruto asked incredulously as he squirmed more. He gasped as more pain flooded his vision. The Fox's healing wasn't extremely quick when Naruto wasn't pulling the Fox's chakra out of the seal. Naruto could, if he wanted to, pull enough chakra to heal his leg within the matter of a minute but the side effects weren't worth it. The side effects included things like heightened emotions, senses, and burning sensations from his chakra coils for the rest of the day. The rate at which the demon's chakra was flooding into his system now would mean his broken bone would heal within ten minutes, correctly, or Shizune would get to it first.

"When you rush things they aren't going to be done right!" Neji argued as he kept a tight hold of Naruto. Naruto stopped fighting. He was tired from the night before and he knew that Neji was right. His mind was flooded with pain and anger at the village for sending his sensei and possibly his friends after him once again.

"This sucks," Naruto muttered to himself as Shizune finally emerged over the rubble and knelt down beside him. Her green healing chakra emerged immediately and started checking him from head to toe. She started focusing on his leg, almost in competition with the demonic chakra, but there wasn't enough of it in his system to fight her healing chakra's influence on his body. Soon, after a few minutes, a crack was heard as she mended the bone back together correctly and healed any damaged tissue surrounding it.

Neji released Naruto, who didn't really move from his spot against Neji. He was tired and they were in the caverns they didn't want to be in. Shizune backed off the men and stood up to look around. The cavern was pitch black other than the sunlight filtering in from their entry hole, which was too high up to jump up to, and it had the texture of dirt that was barely staying up anyways. Even if they could leap out of the hole they would land on terrain that would crumble underneath them from their weight. They also couldn't use chakra to climb the walls to get through the entry hole because their weight would collapse the roof.

"Let's find a way out of here," Naruto said before summoning a horde of clones that took off in all directions. Naruto shifted his position so that he was digging into his coat, and he pulled a wooden jug of water out. There was no point in traveling until his clones got a lay of the caverns, but that could take hours and Kakashi's team was somewhere behind them.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Shizune asked as she looked at the dimly light cavern. The area they were in was an antechamber for many more passages through the cavern system. In honesty, she was more afraid of their possibly being some giant snakes left in the caverns than being lost in the caverns.

"I don't know. We'll find a way," Naruto told her as he looked up at the edge of the entry hole. There he saw Pakkun, who sat on the edge and watched them. Naruto spoke up a bit angrily, "Good job, Pakkun! Like what you see?" The dog smirked at him and didn't bother replying to the blond.

"I wonder how far Kakashi is from us," Shizune wondered aloud, "Do you think he would help us get out of here?"

"Not without a fight or agreement to return to Kohona," Naruto told her as he got up. His clones were dispersing at rapid rates as they came to dead ends. Eventually, after another ten minutes passed, only one clone was left exploring and Naruto knew which path they would take. "Come on, this way," he said to Shizune since Neji was already on his back. A blue light erupted from Naruto's necklace, which he won from Tsunade in a bet to get her back to Hokage. The necklace was capable of channeling Chakra and with the presence of Chakra light flowed out of it. This wasn't its only purpose, Naruto learned a few years back, but it was one of the best purposes he found for it. Shizune looked back up at the hole Pakkun made to find Pakkun looking back at her, taking in the direction and hole they disappeared down, before he disappeared from her eye sight as well traveling back to Kakashi.

"Dang dog," Shizune muttered as she followed after Naruto.

-[===]-


	5. Listen to me! I am your Friend!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

**Chapter 5**

_Hey! Listen to me Naruto! I am your FRIEND!_

Naruto and company travelled through the caverns in silence with Naruto leading the way by the light of his necklace. The caverns were very dangerous to travel in due to the many sharp turns and sudden drop offs into seemingly bottomless abysses. Often times the group had to very carefully scoot over an edge, one by one, which was very nerve-wracking for the blind member of their crew. Theoretically, they could chakra walked across the wall but none of them trusted the walls enough to hold their weight as they walked. So they did things the old fashion and nerve-wrecking way.

After a few hours of traveling in much of the same way they sat down for a break. They were tired, and sometimes they had to crawl through tiny openings to reach the tunnel that Naruto's clones were scouting. At some points Naruto wondered why his clones didn't disperse at particularly horrible spots and it just inspired Naruto to make more clones to scout ahead for him. At this point in time Naruto was sick of caverns, even though they had been in the caverns for less than six hours, he was tired of them. The memories of his clones dying in horrific ways in the caverns echoed in his mind and only made his nerves rise higher and higher.

The area they decided to take a break in was actually an area with sunlight. Here the roof caved in from some unknown reason. Naruto wanted to cite battle due to the way the rubble was distributed. All of the rubble here was spread to the edge of the room, instead of clumped more into the middle of the room like what normally happened when a roof gave way. Naruto looked up at the sky.

The sun was beginning to descend into the horizon and the birds were beginning to find places to lay rest for the night. Naruto shut his eyes and basked in the sunlight as his companions ate snacks and quietly talked to each other. For a minute the world fell away and everything was peaceful. Things were just as he wanted them to be. He was with friends. There was no fighting. He was out having an adventure. Everything seemed better than it was for a minute, and then he opened his eyes.

At the edge of the hole in the ceiling kneeled Kakashi looking back down at him. "Neh, Naruto, didn't I teach you not to let your guard down while in unknown territory?" Kakashi said as he looked at him. Naruto laughed at him. He laughed hard.

"I am positive that you don't want to come down here Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called back as the attention of his friends drew to Naruto, and then to Kakashi. Kakashi smiled at the group with both his eyes and mouth in the manner that he use to when Naruto was a part of team seven, like he use to before the civil war happened. It was endearing for Naruto.

"I am afraid you are right. I want nothing to do with the caverns below me, and I'm certain that you don't want anything to do with them either. If you come back to Kohona with me and rejoin the resistance then I'll help you get out!" Kakashi called down to them in an offer that was almost too good to pass up. Kakashi had a rope wrapped around his shoulder that would easily haul them back up to the surface and they could leave this dark mess behind. Shizune looked at Naruto while Neji's head just stayed in the general direction of Kakashi's.

"No way Kakashi-sensei! I am not going back to that warmongering council!" Naruto flat out refused his offer and stood up, "If you want me then you are going to have to come down here and kick me seventy different ways to Kohona, because I am not returning!" Kakashi's smile faltered and a frown took its place.

"You do know that a majority of the council wishes you no ill-will, right?" Kakashi asked. He was going to try and convince Naruto to return peacefully. He didn't want to hurt his student.

"This isn't about me, and you know it!" Naruto yelled back angrily. Naruto was getting angrily at Kakashi's lack of understanding of his stances and emotions on the civil war. Kakashi sighed.

"Then what is it about? You left the day after that massacre. Is it about that?" Kakashi asked. He truly didn't want to fight his student if he didn't have to.

"That massacre was a slaughter approved by the resistance's council! It didn't have to be that way! In fact, the council kindly _ordered_ me to kill the whole rebellion while killing the civilians! Did you know that they ordered me to sacrifice myself, to give myself to the Kyuubi, in order to wipe out half the village so that they could _start over_?" Naruto screamed as his breathing became faster and faster. Naruto turned around, walked away a portion, and took deep breathes without looking at Kakashi. He couldn't allow his rage to blind his communication with one of his teachers, whether the man had cease to teach him anything since he returned to the lands or not.

Kakashi remained silent as he absorbed the information that Naruto gave him. He thought for a minute before replying curiously since Naruto turned back around to face him looking calmer, "Are you angry about them asking you to sacrifice yourself?" The question was specific. Kakashi needed to know what bone Naruto had to pick with the leaders of the village.

"No. I am angry because five hundred civilians or so civilians died the day I refused them," Naruto said more calmly than before. "War only breeds hate, and hate only breeds war. Kakashi-sensei! We have to break this cycle! We can't give in to this mindless bloodshed! If we do then we are no better than the rebels!" Naruto told his teacher.

Kakashi remained silent as he listened to Naruto's philosophy. His thoughts wandered to the third great war and how many people died in that war and of how Iwa still hated the Leaf Village today due to the number of deaths the Yondaime caused on the battlefield. Naruto's peace philosophy was abstract and rare in the Leaf Village. Overall a majority of the leaders didn't care if they were at war or not as long as it benefited their clans. Kakashi could only think of one other member of the village who preached about peace like Naruto did, Jiriaya. At that moment Kakashi understood Naruto better than anyone else in the village other than Jiriaya. The difference between Jiriaya and Naruto was that Naruto was willing to break off from the village and strive for peace, while Jiriaya tried to change the village's philosophy slowly by instilling these beliefs in future leaders and current leaders. Tsunade as Hokage was one effect of Jiriaya and the third hokage's influence in this regard.

Suddenly, Sakura appeared beside Kakashi and looked down the hole. "What is taking so long sensei? Is the idiot not listening to you?" Sakura asked Kakashi. Then, Shikamaru appeared on the other side of Kakashi, and then Sai appeared. Naruto openly glared at Sakura while Shizune took a battle stance. They were now outnumbered and if they so wanted they could leave Sakura, the battle medic, at the top of the hole with the rope while the other three descended into the hole to battle them.

Naruto unsealed and threw a multitude of smoke bombs in all directions. He grabbed Neji and Shizune's hands and ran towards the opening he knew as the way out now. His clones were done scouting the caverns. The smoke bombs were multipurpose; they hid their scent while hiding their escape route.

Almost at once Kakashi, Sai, and Shikamaru leaped down into the hole. They landed as the smoke cleared without injury, and Sakura remained at the top with the rope. "Remember, we are here to capture them, not kill," Kakashi reminded them. "Sakura, stay there with the rope. You will help us get them back up when we return," he ordered before summoning Pakkun once more. The smoke hid their scents in the immediate area, but it wore off as they entered the tunnel. "Pakkun, find Naruto's scent please," he asked.

Naruto stopped as the light on his pendent lit up. "Neji, climb on my back. We don't have much time," Naruto told him.

Neji argued back, "No. I can run. You need to be free to fight." Naruto turned to Neji and growled angrily. Shizune unconsciously took a step back from the two men.

"On my back, now! We don't have time for this," Naruto growled back as he backed up against Neji's chest. Neji sighed. He would have to trust Naruto. Neji climbed onto Naruto's back as six of Naruto's clones appeared in the cavern. One stepped over to Shizune.

"No. I am not getting on your back to!" Shizune argued back. She hated chivalrous pigs. She met many samurai on her journeys that tried to treat her like delicate glass and it annoyed her and made her feel less skilled.

"This isn't an argument. Get on my back or I will carry you without your consent," the Naruto clone said. Shizune sighed before she punched the clone in the face, dispersing it. Naruto smirked. "Fine, but don't fall down when it gets rough, which it does. We're moving out," Naruto told them as he and his clones began to run down the cavern. Shizune darted after them and tried to stick close to Naruto, and to watch his feet and body language.

The clones in front of Naruto was to scout the immediate area in front of him. Naruto had memories of the cavern, but his clones only traveled down it once, so his memory of the cavern wasn't perfect. There were a ton of holes and parts that he didn't remember, but they were hard pressed for time and had no other option but to hurry. They travelled in the manner in silence for thirty minutes, with an occasional blunder or misstep, and with a clone dispelling and Naruto having to summon another one.

Eventually the system of tunnels led to an underground river that they had to run upon. At parts they would have to swim in the river through a system of underwater caves to reach their destination. Finally, several hours later, they came to a waterfall that was nestled in a giant cave. Moonlight trickled in from the giant entrance and the area reeked of decade old stench. Here there was massive bones of animals long ago dead, and some smaller bones of thousands of animals.

"Ew, do you smell that?" Shizune asked as they stopped at the top of the waterfall. The drop off the waterfall was steep and the walls of the cave weren't smooth enough to chakra-walk down them.

"Yeah, it stinks," Naruto commented, "Do you think that there are any of those giant snakes still around?" Naruto smirked as Shizune's spine straightened out and she looked around. At this point Naruto has explored a ton of the cavern system by use of his clones, but Naruto knew that the portion that he explored didn't even put a dent in the vast network of caverns and abysses.

"I certainly hope not!" Shizune said as she looked behind her at the dark waterways they came from. They were wet, and cold, and it was night time outside. The temperature from the valley was cold and still dropping for the night. Sometimes Shizune hated the change of the seasons, but she could never bring it on herself to hate the seasons itself. She loved winter and the effects it brought to the land. It snowed in the Fire Country every year as great storms from the Water Country brought snow to the land. "Do you think we lost Kakashi's group?" Shizune asked curiously.

"Yeah, I think so. The water and the swimming would've muddled our scent, so Pakkun can't follow us. They will guess that we swam when they hit a dead end, but there were so many twists and turn-offs on that path we took that I doubt they will dare to pursue us any further," Naruto told her. He expended hundreds of clones to find this path out of the cavern system. His clones also found other things in the system of caverns that he didn't want to dwell on. Horrid experiments that were never found by Kohona were left in the caverns. Some of them were still alive to. Most of them were blind, demonic looking, and once human.

Naruto shook his head and looked down the waterfall. "Come on," Naruto said as he jumped off of the water and down to the lake of water below. Naruto and Neji crashed into the water below and soon they were wading ashore after Naruto pulled Neji up in the right direction of the surface. Shizune peeked over the edge uncertainly before jumping after them. It was going to be a cold night for sure.

-[===]-

Naruto and the company settled down for the cold night together in the cave. A horde of clones returned after twenty minutes with firewood and after setting up a pile of wood Naruto set it ablaze with a low level fire jutsu. Naruto was required to learn some fire jutsu to use with his toad companions, but he wasn't at the level that Jiriaya is at yet with the toad companions. Fortunately for Naruto, Jiriaya wasn't that good at senjutsu. Naruto had him beat in that regard.

Once the fire was lit they declothed and set their clothes near the fire to dry. Naruto handed out more rations from his seals before he sat down himself. He was exhausted. The days wore down on him hard as he struggled to stay awake in front of the fire. Funnily enough, all of them were mostly naked. Neji and Naruto were down to their boxers while Shizune was down to her net and panties. The net fortunately had a cover for her breasts so she wasn't topless in front of the men.

Shizune sat down at the fire and looked at her friends. Neji was feeling the heat and scooting closer. "Careful Neji!" Shizune reminded him. "You can't see where your hand is. Don't get too close," she told him.

"Yeah, yeah, I can feel where my hand," Neji said back starkly. Neji changed a lot over the years of civil war, much like everybody else, but in ways Neji changed the least. It wasn't until he became Naruto's sworn companion that the changes started happening. First, he opened up more and talked more to others. Beforehand Neji was a silent enigma. You would be hard pressed to get two words out of him. That changed when Naruto came around. Second, he took on more public service projects and tried to help out more around the resistance when before he would patrol the village while off-duty.

Shizune was lost in her thoughts as she took in Neji's reply. In a way, she was shocked she got that reply because that was the first time she really heard Neji talk that way to anybody outside of Naruto. Neji and Naruto bickered like an old couple sometimes. Neji spoke up again, "How long do you think Naruto will last until he's asleep?"

"I don't know. He hasn't slept in two days. What's the longest he has lasted without sleep?" Shizune asked Neji as if Naruto wasn't there. Shizune looked over at Naruto to find that the blond had dozed off while lying on his side. His head was laying on his arm and drool was starting to drip down his arm. Shizune laughed.

"He's already asleep, isn't he?" Neji asked as he turned his face in the direction of Naruto.

"Yeah, it looks like I'm taking first watch," Shizune said with a yawn. Neji turned towards her and frowned.

"No. Let me. You're tired," Neji told her. Shizune looked at him with a frown and shook her head.

"No, you need your rest to. You're still recovering from your sickness," Shizune argued back. Neji sighed.

"I feel fine. Let me take the first watch, or listen I should say, and you can sleep. I will wake you up when I get tired and need rest, okay?" Neji bickered back. He had a point. It was night time and the likelihood of seeing an attacker at night was minimal. You would hear them long before you could see them. Shizune sighed.

"Fine," she resigned and then stacked firewood beside Neji. "Tend to the fire while you're at it. Throw wood onto it and use a stick to get it right. You will be able to tell when you need to do it by the heat it gives off," she instructed before she draped a blanket over both Neji and Naruto. "Good night," she mumbled before she pulled another blanket around her, turned her back to the fire, and laid her head down onto her pack.

Neji smiled to himself happily before he poked the fire with the stick that was given to him. He felt useful for the first time since his accident. At least, he was willing to call it an accident. He should've never attacked Naruto to begin with. Instead he should've fled the nation and pulled the heat away from Naruto. He hummed to himself as he thought about the what ifs of the past week, and he came to a conclusion that even if he fled the nation Hiashi would've still known where Naruto was at, and Naruto would've still been in the trouble he is in now.

Even though he was a liability to his friend, he was happy to be with him. His presence, aura, and attitude made Neji feel happier and less stressed even when they were in life or death situations.

Neji's mind wondered on the various events of the past few years. The civil war hasn't been easy on anybody. His cousin, Hinata, was set up into an arranged marriage around two years after the war began. Her groom was Neji. She was set up to marry him and Hinata flat out refused to marry Neji. Neji shivered at the idea of that relationship and the broken dynamics it could've developed.

The caged bird seal would've stayed on his head and he would've been a slave to his cousin, and possibly his wife. It was good in his opinion that Hinata refused to marry him. If she married him then he would've been forced into leading the slave branch of the family, much like his father in the generation before Neji, and his life wouldn't be where it was now. He was glad that things happened the way they did because when Naruto returned from his training trip he became involved with the Hyuuga clan affairs.

Naruto, Tsunade, and Jiriaya made enough fuss and interference that the arranged marriage didn't take place until it was time for the ceremony. That was six months after Naruto's return from his training trip and six months before Naruto left the resistance. On that fateful night Naruto raided the Hyuuga compound with a multitude of clones, kidnapped Hinata, and took her to the Inuzukas. Neji's mind became lost on conversations long past completed between Naruto and Hinata where Hinata confessed her love for the Inuzuka heir, Kiba, and even her crush on Naruto, but time and distanced lessened her feelings for Naruto and pushed her to Kiba. The two lovers, Kiba and Hinata, would meet secretly once a week and she admitted this to Naruto and Neji.

Neji knew that Hinata was now happy. She married Kiba soon after her kidnapping and once married the Hyuuga were out of options of retrieving her. It was well known that Naruto was the culprit of the kidnapping and he came to scrutiny under the public eye and opinion of the village. To the politicians of the resistance, Naruto was a loose cannon and potential ally for the rebellion since he helped the rebels get Hinata. So, when the civilian massacre came around Naruto was already walking on eggshells due to his so-called allies. Naruto's refusal to kill was the last straw to Hiashi and the other leaders. Hiashi attacked Naruto openly, but the version of Naruto that was attacked was revealed to be a clone.

Neji was left alone promptly as Hyuuga members flooded into Neji's position and he was demanded to give up Naruto's whereabouts. Neji honestly didn't know. The Naruto he was with turned out to be a clone and Neji realized that he was being strung along just the same as everyone else in the village. It wasn't until three weeks later that he received any word from Naruto, and that came in the form of a clone that sneaked in a conversation with him in public.

However, before Naruto's departure, Neji was Naruto's sworn companion, and Naruto was his, this meant that they had to go everywhere together. They lived together, which meant that Naruto had to live in the Hyuuga clan compound for a year, and over that time Naruto developed disgust for the Hyuuga clan.

Neji knew it wasn't a disgust of the people. No, Naruto didn't like the system the clan was ran with. Neji shivered at the memories of arguments between him and himself. At times Naruto would refuse to go to the clan compound especially after particularly nasty missions. Naruto quickly developed a strong dislike for the Hyuugas, and their clan leader, Hiashi, due to his treatment to Neji and others around them. The Hyuuga clan was strong, Neji knew that, and he done his best to quell Naruto's dislike but he was unsuccessful.

Neji explained the clan's methods to Naruto countless times in hopes that he would understand the necessity of every action. After a while Naruto would reply with valid reasons as to why those same methods were inhumane and unjust. At first, Neji would refuse Naruto's reasons as stupid and inferior but over time Neji saw that Naruto's point of view was actually correct. The Hyuuga clan was inhumane to its members and injustice happened everywhere in the slave branch of the clan. Neji, who use to belong to the slave branch, became suicidal and depressed after Naruto's departure from the village due to the massacre of the civilians. This was why he accepted the suicide mission to assassinate Naruto. He honestly felt that he had nothing left to live for. His masters were cruel and he was just a slave.

Neji smiled to himself at the thought that came next. That was no more. He was free from his cruel masters, and they were no longer the master of him. Neji was now his own master. He was a slave no longer, and Neji would rather die before he became a slave once more. Neji would follow the man who freed him from that life for the rest of his life, and in the afterlife if he was able to. Neji's head turned to the direction of Naruto's breathing. He swore to be his companion through thick and thin. Neji wouldn't back down anymore, even if he was blind. He still had no idea how he was going to be of anymore use than what he was currently doing, taking watch. Neji pulled the blanket around him tighter to fight off the chill of the night and settled down to listen for potential predators as his mind calmed down into a persistent recording of the soundscape around him.

-[===]-

**A/N: Weekends are a wonderful thing, you know that? I've written happily all weekend while drinking tea from Adagio Teas. "Almond Oolong" so far is my favorite! **

**This chapter we saw more character develop and explanation of past events. Neji's character is a bit different from usual in this fiction, but only because he had such a bland character in the anime/manga. I am incorporating a transition period for him since this fiction will very much so include Neji changing and becoming a more fulfilled and stronger character. **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If so, please leave a review, follow, or favorite the story or myself! Thank you for reading! I will strive to write more for you. **


	6. On The Cliff's Edge

**Chapter 6**

_On the Cliff's Edge_

The night passed by quietly as Neji lost track of time as the chorus of bugs echoed through the cave. Neji wanted to say that several hours had passed but he wasn't sure of the time. It was still rather cold so he had to guess that it was still dark. All that he knew was that his back was still cold and the chorus of evening time bugs was still ringing, but then something caught his ear; a peculiar snap that echoed in from the entrance of the cave.

Neji was sure that the snap was a branch, or a twig, that broke from the weight of some animal. Horrendous thoughts of assassins entered his mind and these thoughts worried Neji to the point that he stopped everything he was doing and tried to listen closer and after a few minutes of listening Neji couldn't tell if there was anything truly there. Whatever caused the noise had ceased to exist.

Until Neji heard whizz coming from the area the snap came from. "Naruto!" Neji screamed at the top of his voice as he grabbed a chunk of firewood and threw it towards Naruto while at the same time leaping to the side. Neji heard a thud as the projectile impacted with the wood and Naruto awoke with a startle.

Naruto was on his feet within the matter of seconds and he was in a taijutsu stance. His eyes flew wildly around until they found Neji, and Shizune, who woke up with a startle as well and was on her feet. No further attack came at that moment while Naruto and Shizune came to stand in front of Neji.

"Who goes there?" Naruto yelled out while holding a kunai in his hand. Naruto was cranky. A few hours of sleep were not enough to restore his spirits or mood. Laughter echoed through the cave as a single figure came to be seen at the edge of the fire light.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Neji Hyuuga; your deaths have been ordained by my master," the figure said with a deep and low voice. The man had long hair, a bandana that covered his forehead, and the clan colors and symbols of the Hyuuga. His eyes were the vanilla white color of the Hyuuga clan and they were strained from use. "Prepare yourselves!" the man yelled out as he charged. Three other figures clad in clothe head from toe charged behind the man and together all four men charged at Naruto's group.

Three dozen clones appeared around Naruto as a defensive perimeter. Even though the Shadow Clone Jutsu was a high level technique, its battle purpose was minimal. The technique was an espionage and utility technique. Due to this reason the Hyuuga assassins burned through Naruto's clones as Naruto formulated a plan.

"Shizune, cover Neji. I am going to make an opening. When I do take Neji and run," Naruto told his allies. Both Shizune and Neji turned towards Naruto as if he was crazy. To take on four shinobi at once he had to be crazy.

"No. I am not leaving you here alone to fight these brutes!" Shizune replied back as one of the Hyuuga assassins attacked her and they entered into a taijutsu battle. Neji stepped back and slid into the Jyuuken stance to try and defend himself, but he was pointing the wrong direction.

Suddenly the leader of the assassins started bellowing in laughter. "Our fallen brother is now blind! Focus him!" the leader ordered out to his men. Two of the Hyuuga assassins charged Neji, who turned in the right direction. Neji had no weapons on him since he attacked Naruto. His weapons were taken away for him to heal.

Shizune leaped in front of Neji and blocked the first assassins while Naruto appeared to his other side and deal with the other assassin. The leader, who was now left alone, charged back towards Naruto and landed a hard thrust kick onto Naruto's chest. Naruto went flying back deeper into the cave while Shizune battled one of the assassins. The leader and the other lackey chased after Naruto while the other two assassins surrounded Shizune and Neji.

"Tell me where they are," Neji said aloud but all he heard in return was Shizune grunting as she fought. Then the onslaught of pain came. His opponent was a Hyuuga clan member and they specialized in closing chakra points which were located all over the body. The chakra points were also pressure points that controlled one's body, such as limbs, or the heart.

Shizune saw that Neji was getting pummeled while she fought. Her ability to fight wasn't one of her strong points. That was why she became a medic. She wasn't a powerhouse like many other shinobi were. No, she was good at one thing, and that was healing the body. Unfortunately for her opponent damaging the body with chakra was just as easy as healing the body with chakra. At the tip of her hands Shizune formed sharp chakra scalpels that were capable of slicing through trees if she had the need.

Shizune knew that if Neji was going to survive then she needed to end her fight right then, whether her opponent survived or not. Shizune gritted her teeth as she prepared herself to break the first law of medics: "Do no harm." The Hyuugas were taijutsu fighters and the longer Shizune fought against him the more likely she was going to lose, so with all her might she did something her teacher would be proud of. She charged straight towards her opponent and shoved her hand straight into his heart. The man stopped instantly and fell against her while crying out in pain. He was dying, but she had no time to provide him a proper death.

She pulled her hand from his chest and ran towards Neji's attacker, who was leaning over a disabled Neji with a kunai in his hands. The attacker didn't bother looking up at his comrade's demise. He thought the girl was the one who died. How wrong he was. Shizune formed a chakra scalpel within the palm of her hand and when she came upon the attacker she shoved her palm into his throat.

Blood and gore poured from the attacker's neck as he dropped the Kunai and grabbed onto Shizune's arm. He struggled in vain as Shizune pulled the man away from Neji. Soon the attacker's grip lessened and then fell from her arms. Shizune dropped him to the side and went to Neji. Neji wasn't breathing as Shizune dropped to her knees and her bloody hands started emitting green healing chakra. She went to work re opening his chakra points on his chest and approximately ten seconds later Neji took a deep breath and groaned out in pain. She then unsealed the points that controlled his limbs and then stood up while pulling Neji back to his feet.

Shizune looked into the direction that Naruto was fighting in and decided that Naruto was right. She needed to get Neji to safety, but she worried about Naruto. Shizune grabbed Neji's hand and pulled him into the darkness. "Come on! This is our chance to get away!" Shizune said aloud, and Neji fought against her as his breath came in raggedly, but he didn't have the strength to verbally or physically fight against her. He ended up being dragged along by the lady.

Naruto was having a hard time against the Hyuuga assassins. When he would get one knocked down the other would attack with renewed vigor. Naruto was holding his own until the jounin leader started closing his chakra points at rates that Naruto couldn't contend with. Yes, Naruto could reopen his chakra points with the help of the Kyuubi, but he needed a minute of rest in order to do that and with two attackers hitting him he wasn't having any rest. Eventually the two had all of his chakra points closed and Naruto fell to the floor weakened.

Blood fell from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. His senjutsu was useless with his chakra points closed since they were what he depended on to pull nature chakra into his body. Naruto could fall back onto the Kyuubi's chakra but he wanted to save that as a last resort. The demonic chakra sometimes took him days to heal from fully and Naruto knew that he didn't have that type of time out in the wild.

The leader started laughing and he motioned for his companion to halt his advance. At this point Naruto was leaning down on one knee, hurt and weakened. "This is where it ends, Kyuubi. I pray you never find peace," the leader said aloud while chakra filled his right palm. Several things happened at once in the next few seconds.

First, Naruto transcended into his first tailed state. His chakra points all reopened rapidly and his features darkened to be more animalistic, and second; Itachi appeared behind the leader of the Hyuuga Assassins and held a sword to his throat. "I wouldn't do that," Itachi said aloud as the Hyuuga Leader became still. "Tell your friend not to move," Itachi said as he turned the leader towards his companion.

"D-don't move!" the leader stammered out.

Itachi smirked lightly at the man before he turned his attention to Naruto, who stayed still and was covered with demonic chakra, and said, "Eh, Naruto-kun. Look at the trouble that you have gotten yourself into now." Naruto grinned demonically as the chakra tail swayed back and forth behind him.

"I could've handled it," Naruto said to Itachi. Itachi turned his attention back to the leader who substituted himself with his companion. This made Itachi frown, and it made Naruto growl angrily. Itachi mercilessly slit the companion's throat and pushed him to the side as he grasped his dying breath.

"Your companions have already left. I recommend going with them. We will talk later," Itachi told Naruto, who just nodded before he ran off on all fours. The Hyuuga turned to chase Naruto but Itachi got in his way.

"Your fight is no longer with him Hyuuga," Itachi said, "Prepare yourself."

-[===]-

Naruto tried to catch up with his companions but the night was against him. He couldn't pick up their trail in the moonlight and Naruto could swear that he was being followed. His demonic cloak wore off minutes after he ran away from Itachi and he was feeling more tired right now than he has felt for the entire year. Unfortunately, luck was not with him because when daylight finally came Naruto was no closer to finding his companions than he was before.

Naruto could tell he was being followed by something, or someone. He would occasionally hear voices, twigs snapping, or even arguing from the direction he came from. So Naruto set up clones along his path while he kept moving and he soon learned that he was being followed by Sasuke, Hinata, and Kiba. He groaned as he realized that the rebellion was attempting to get his support as well by either capturing him or talking him into coming with them.

Naruto led them on a path that steadily climbed out of the low valley the old snake summoning ground was and went to the highest point he could find. There, he sat on the hill beside a cliff as he watched the surrounding area for his companions. They couldn't have gotten much farther than he did even if they were traveling all night. Finally, after twenty minutes of scanning the environment with several clones Naruto spotted Neji and Shizune. Naruto also saw Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru in the area, and Itachi, Sasuke, Hinata, and Kiba.

Naruto felt conflicted once he realized what was going on. Itachi's group was following him, and Kakashi's group was following Itachi's group, both groups using scent to track down their targets. Naruto couldn't, with a good conscious, lead both groups back to his injured teammates so he devised a plan around these conditions. Naruto sent a dozen clones to find Neji and Shizune and to lead them to the river where they would rest until Naruto could catch up. While that was going on Naruto was going to try and shake his pursuers, or at least try to convince them to leave him alone.

Naruto started walking again, this time in the opposite direction his companions walked and a wide birth towards the river he knew existed thirty or so miles east. Naruto wandered as he sent a clone behind him to confront Itachi's group.

The clone stood in a grassy clearing waiting for the group to catch up. Eventually, after twenty minutes, the group caught up and walked into the clearing. "Hey Naruto, decide to give up?" Kiba asked cheerfully.

"Give up what? The chase?" the clone asked.

"Yes," Kiba replied as he scratched Akamaru on the head. "I don't think we can lose your scent even if you took a bath. You reek!" Kiba commented before Sasuke stepped forward. Sasuke was never one for much conversation. He wanted to get straight to the point.

"Dobe, you will come back to the village with us and join the rebellion," Sasuke told the clone the point of their pursuit. The clone sighed, much like the original would, and put his hands on his hips dejectedly. Itachi remained quiet during the exchanges.

"Must I be the object of everyone's desires?" the clone asked a question it already knew the answer to before it looked up from the ground at Sasuke. "Listen to me. I don't want to go back to the village. I refuse to be anyone's pawn. Maybe I will return after this civil war mess has been sorted out but I highly doubt that mess is going to be resolved any time soon," the clone told the group. A sick smile came to Sasuke's face from Naruto's reply.

"Well then we will just have to force you to come back then!" Sasuke said eagerly and in excitement. The last time the two men fought was when Naruto refused to join the rebellion the last time and Naruto gained a scar that the Kyuubi couldn't heal on his face, much like Kakashi's scar, but fortunately for Naruto the Kyuubi could heal the eye.

The clone laughed at Sasuke before his eyes travelled to the rest of the group. The entire group except Sasuke was sympathetic to Naruto because he helped them, or they helped him, at various times in the past, especially Hinata and Kiba. Naruto knew that Itachi was fully capable of capturing him by himself, but for reasons unknown to Naruto Itachi didn't act on his skill. Instead, Itachi gave Naruto several free slips in the past. The previous night was one example.

"What's so funny dobe?" Sasuke asked angrily. The clone looked up at Sasuke before it walked straight towards Sasuke. Sasuke didn't expect a fight due to the manner the clone was walking.

The clone walked right up to the Uchiha's face, took a deep breath and blew air out its nose, and said, "Catch me if you can, Teme!" This spurred Sasuke to grab the clone by the throat to which it simply smiled. Sasuke smiled triumphantly at his capture of their target before the clone dispersed into smoke and its memories returned to the sender. The look on Sasuke's face and Naruto's theatrics that day would be joked about by Kiba for many decades afterwards.

-[===]-

The memories from the clone provided Naruto with many hints at what he needed to do to lose their trail. Kiba, who complained about Naruto's stench, was actually hinting towards Naruto that his scent was easy to follow. There were three ways to disrupt a scent. One way was to swim down a river several miles in hopes that your scent doesn't appear on the other side after taking the dip in the water. Another way was to get in trouble with something that was so incredibly stinky that your scent mixed in with it, and then stay at places that held that stench strongly. The last way was environmentally. Rain washed away a good portion of scents on the landscape.

Naruto led the two teams of ninja on for several days after his conversation with Itachi's group. Eventually Naruto led the group to the Nindame River, the river that he had his other companions waiting at, and he waited for Itachi's group to catch up to him. Finally, after half a day, the group caught up to him. Naruto stood in open view with a cliff to his back that had a raging river at the bottom.

Naruto's plan was to jump off the cliff in front of them. The plan, albeit stupid, would wash his scent away from any area he would get out of the river at and Naruto could just swim until he felt he travelled far enough away to lose his pursuers. Naruto would've done the cliff jump without the group watching him, but he was intrigued with them. Why did they want him so bad, and what was Itachi's take on the war?

Naruto stood on the cliff edge staring at the team that now stood twenty yards away from him. "About time you guys caught up! I've been waiting here all day for you!" Naruto complained to them, to which Kiba frowned. Naruto was one for theatrics. If he could have an audience while he did stupid things then he would be happier than Akamaru without fleas.

"What are you doing Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked worriedly. Naruto smiled at her before he opened his arms and walked in a circle.

"Oh, I'm enjoying nature Hinata-chan! Won't you stop chasing me?" Naruto asked her kindly as he turned to face them. Normally, if their mission wasn't diplomatic first violence second the ninja would be attacking Naruto, but they had their orders to convince him to join the rebels. Genjutsu couldn't work on Naruto so forcing him to join the rebels would only hurt the rebels more.

Hinata shook her head defiantly. She couldn't show any sign of weakness in front of Sasuke or Itachi. "Oh, fine," Naruto whined before he turned towards Itachi. "Itachi, do you desire peace?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke, who was starting to fume at Naruto's casual demeanor, took a step forward and said, "Naruto! Get away from the edge and come over here! You can do all the talking you want back at the village!" Naruto turned towards Sasuke and smirked.

"Was I talking to you, Teme?" Naruto asked him, to which Sasuke replied with a glare. "No, I wasn't. Shut up. I'm talking to your brother," Naruto replied rudely. Sasuke's face turned into angry scowl. His hands clenched into fists and he took a step forward, but Itachi's hand grabbed his shoulder and Itachi stepped in front of Sasuke.

"Calm down, little brother," Itachi told Sasuke before he turned back towards Naruto. "For the answer to your question, I don't know. What does peace accomplish when war can get you places?" Itachi asked. He truly was not expecting a conversation on philosophy from the target they were sent to capture. In fact, he figured he would let his team try to talk Naruto into returning and if things came to violence then he would let the team fight Naruto until he went into his demonic stages.

"War only breeds hate, misery, and bloodshed. It may push your standing in the world to different heights but it ends and degrades the standing of your victims," Naruto replied to Itachi.

"It is in our nature to fight and destroy. Why is war a bad thing if we are simply fulfilling our nature and making the world a better place for oneself?" Itachi responded.

Naruto didn't respond for a second as he thought, but then he said, "It is in our nature to love and create just as much as it is our nature to fight and destroy. If we want to make the world a better place for ourselves, then why not do it in a manner that improves it in the same manner for everybody?" Itachi became quiet from Naruto's response. He had a point. His father's hate was deeply ingrained into the Uchiha clan. He inherited the hate from his father, and his father inherited it from his grandfather.

The hate was always towards the Senju clan, and now since the Senju clan has grown so small the hate was now directed towards the village that the Senju clan fostered, Kohona. However, the hatred was forgotten for many years until the night of the Kyuubi attack. Afterwards, everything changed, and the Uchiha were put through more and more scrutiny from the village that they helped found.

"Why love your once-upon-a-time allies when they hate you for something you never done?" Itachi asked back. The rest of the people in the clearing were quiet as Itachi and Naruto talked. This was what their plight was about, to retrieve Naruto diplomatically, or by force.

Naruto became silent at Itachi's words. Naruto didn't have an answer. The Uchiha were wronged by The Leaf Village after the Kyuubi Attack, that a fact, but Naruto felt that reason alone wasn't enough to warrant civil war. There were alternatives that didn't lead to bloodshed, death, and maiming. "Degrading yourself to the general consensus of a large population doesn't make the war right. Many people still believe today that I am the Kyuubi reincarnated into a human form, but does that make it true?" Naruto replied, and for the first time since the war began Itachi was questioning his stance on the war. He was a stead-fast supporter of his clan and his father, and he even refused to wipe out his clan from the orders of the Hokage and Elder Council of the time.

At Itachi's silence, Naruto continued, "The path to love isn't an easy one. First, you must let go of your hate because your hate only breeds more hate. Then, you must open yourself up to others to allow them a chance to know you. Only through friendship do we gain the bonds that are capable of spreading love." Naruto smiled before he looked at each one of the group.

Kiba stepped forward and asked, "Does this mean you'll come back with us?" All the philosophy talk had his hopes up high that Naruto would join the rebellion and maybe at last their side would win. Naruto laughed at him.

"I'm afraid not Kiba, until next time!" Naruto called out to them before he jumped backwards off of the cliff. Sasuke was about to run down the cliff after him but Itachi stopped him.

"Let him go," Itachi said as Sasuke looked at his brother in shock.

"Why? We almost had him!" Sasuke cried out and complained.

"You can bring a plant all the water in the world but that doesn't mean it'll grow big overnight. We failed our mission. Let him go," Itachi told his brother before he turned around and began to walk away.

"But he's right there!" Sasuke said before he ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down it. Roughly a hundred yards below a raging river ran and Naruto was nowhere in sight.

"No Sasuke. He _was _right there," Kiba said before he barked out a laugh. "Let's go Akamaru!"

-[===]-


	7. A Place for Peace

**A/N: The story must go on! I would really appreciate more reviews. It gets a little lonely in HQ sometimes, ya know? **

**Chapter 7**

_A Place for Peace_

Naruto woke up, oddly enough, inside of a house. It was a small house, much smaller than the one he left behind, but well organized and minimalistic. Naruto sat up and grimaced in pain as his muscles cramped up from the movement and pain from the non-stop movement of previous days catching up to him. A person stirred to his right and a hand pressed him back down to the futon that he was on.

"Shh, calm down Naruto! You have to give yourself time to heal even if the Kyuubi heals a majority of it!" Shizune chided from her position beside him.

"Where's Neji?" Naruto asked as he tried to look around the room. It was night time and the only light nearby was a candle that was burning near Shizune's right side. Naruto saw a scroll lying beside the candle.

"Neji is fine. He is sleeping beside you," Shizune responded and smiled lightly at him. Naruto went to sit up again but her hands pushed him back down once more. A growl erupted from Naruto's chest in irritation.

"Where are we? What is this place?" Naruto asked as he refused to calm down and drift back into sleep. The past few days had been too much for his nerves to handle. They were fried and set permanently on paranoia.

"Oh, Um," Shizune mumbled, "I don't know what this place is to be honest. A man approached us once we reached the river and led us to a secluded village of sorts. He was on the lookout for you." Naruto's eyes widened and he shot up once more but this time pushed Shizune's hands away.

"We have to leave!" Naruto hissed quietly. Naruto didn't know who the man was but Naruto knew that anyone who could readily identify him wasn't a friend, but was more likely a foe.

"Why? The man helped me bring you here and this place is very secluded. You wouldn't know it was here unless a guide brought you here," Shizune responded in confusion. The commotion woke up Neji who groaned tiredly. His fever was back in full force and his throat was dry.

"Water," he croaked as he felt around his bed for a bowl of water. Shizune went to his bedside with a newly refilled bowl and helped him drink.

"Besides, we are in no shape to travel right now. Neji has gotten worse and you are high strung," Shizune told Naruto. _'And I am a wreck,' _she added mentally. Naruto sighed and shook his head. He didn't trust this place or anyone. Naruto couldn't count the number of times he had been betrayed by other people on his hands nor his toes combined. "Lay back down Naruto!" Shizune chided once more and glared at him.

Naruto shook his head and let out a gruff of effort to stand up. He did so but on wobbly feet. Shizune set the bowl of water down beside Neji and moved to Naruto. She positioned herself so that he wouldn't be able to get past her and to the door, and then crossed her arms. "What's the matter?" she asked in a manner that clearly portrayed her irritation with his behavior.

"I don't trust this place," Naruto told her while he tried to keep the bone deep exhaustion out of his voice. He worked with this type of exhaustion before. It wasn't pleasant but it kept him alive. He attempted to move past her but her arms shot out and wrapped around his waist. He froze as her arms touched his hips and suddenly her body and face was digging into his own. Her face found the nook of his neck and shoulder and snuggled in.

After a few seconds Naruto wrapped his own arms around her and let a deep breath escape him. They remained in the embrace for a half a minute before Shizune pulled back and looked up at him. "You rest. I'll keep watch tonight, and I'll wake you if anyone comes or goes. Tomorrow night you can take watch while I sleep," Shizune told him. She knew paranoia very well. Her master, Tsunade, wasn't paranoid enough when they traveled the nations and Shizune often times had to dissuade potential offenders from her master. She understood where Naruto was coming from and how he had to live his life in the past few years.

Naruto looked down at her and sighed. "Okay," he said as he gave into her demands. Shizune began to pull away but Naruto's arms tightened around her and he reinitated the hug. "I saw you kill them. I'm here if you want to talk about it," Naruto whispered into her ear. Shizune meekly nodded against his shoulder and Naruto let her go after a few seconds passed, and then he all but collapsed back onto the futon and went back to sleep.

Neji looked at Shizune curiously after he witnessed the whole ordeal between them. Shizune sat back down beside Naruto's bed and resumed reading where she left off. If Neji was going to say anything to her, then he would, and she knew that.

-[===]-

Naruto woke up before sunrise. His body and mind refused to sleep any longer and his worry for his surroundings and precious people wouldn't lessen at all. Naruto sat up stiffly from his bed that was on a wooden bedframe and found Shizune sitting at the doorway watching the sunrise.

Naruto looked down at his body to find that he was naked underneath his blanket. He smirked at the implications his nakedness caused. "Ne, Shi Shi, where's my clothes?" Naruto asked sweetly. Shizune turned in surprise to find Naruto awake.

"Uh," she stalled as she nervously scratched her cheek. "They're hanging outside to dry," Shizune responded as she got up and sat down beside him. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto shrugged at her. "I'm feeling like I jumped into a raging river," he said. Shizune's eyes widened in surprise and Naruto's arm erupted in pain.

"You idiot!" she screamed as she stood up and walked away fuming in anger. Naruto grinned at her antics but when she turned around to face him he lost the grin in half a second. She was pissed. "Do you know how dangerous that is? You could've died! Your foot could've gotten caught on a piece of drift wood and you would've drowned! You could've hit our head on a rock!"

At this point Neji was stirring and watching the fuming woman along with Naruto. "If it makes you feel any better, I jumped from a high cliff as well," Naruto told her as his attention went to Neji for a second, and then back to the fuming woman. An angry growl erupted from deep within Shizune's chest as she paced the small room they were in. Naruto could hear her mumbling obscenities to herself and his name occasionally mixed in.

"Neji, how are you feeling?" Naruto asked as he slid out of the bed naked. Naruto felt good enough to move on his own but not without pain. His muscles cramped as he moved and he fell to one knee as he found an injury he didn't know was there. His leg was wrapped in thick bandages up to his knee and a wooden pole was put along his leg. Naruto winced as he positioned his bad leg so that he wasn't paining it and Shizune ran to his side still muttering obscenities.

"Better," Neji told him as he watched his friend struggle under his own weight. Naruto, with the help of Shizune, sat back down on his bed and rubbed at his face in embarrassment. Shizune had a large blush on her face as she moved away from him while Neji watched their interactions curiously.

Just then an old man walked in and knocked on the open door. Shizune froze on her triade around the hut and her face grew even redder as she looked around frantically for something to cover Naruto. She found his pillow and slammed it onto his crotch. Naruto hissed in pain as she stood in between her two companions with her hands behind her back.

"Hello Sir. It's nice to see you again," Shizune said respectfully. The man gave out a bellowing laugh and smiled broadly as he looked at the girl. His form blocked the sunlight from the rising sun to filter into the small hut.

"It is nice to see you again to doll. I have come to inform you that I will be hosting you three for the rest of today and that you are all welcome to the winter festival tonight," the old man said.

Naruto's eyes ran up and down the man as he took in his appearance. He wore a clean grey robe that covered his entire body. His hair was long and fell down his back. His face held the stubble of a well-trimmed beard. Naruto couldn't tell whether the man was buff or fat underneath his robe. Naruto couldn't remember ever seeing this man before and then he wondered where the shadow clone he sent with his companions had gotten to. His head started thrumming in pain as he tried to recall every detail of the past week.

"Thank you Sir! We appreciate your hospitality," Shizune replied and she bowed to the man. The two bed-ridden males simply nodded to the man.

"Anything to help out an old friend. Breakfast will be delivered soon. If you need something please seek me out in town. I have business to attend to," the man said before bowing and walking away.

Once they were alone once more Naruto looked to Shizune without a smile on his face. "Where are we?" Naruto asked. Shizune stiffened visibly and looked to Naruto.

"I don't know," she told him honestly, "I've never heard of this place and it isn't on the map." Naruto's eyes narrowed before he just nodded and leaned back in his bed. Naruto noticed a few things about their hut, like how there was only two beds and a small low table for studying or eating. There was a bucket of water nearby for them to drink from.

Naruto also noticed how Shizune slumped as she stood and how tired she truly was. "When was the last time you slept?" Naruto asked her. Shizune avoided his gaze and looked away. She ignored his question as she returned back to the small table to resume her reading. Naruto caught her wrist before she could sit down completely and her eyes went to his hand, and then slowly up to his own eyes. "You look exhausted," he said simply.

She shook her head and looked away from him again. "You should get some more rest," she told him. Naruto shook his head defiantly before he scooted over on his bed so that his good leg was hanging off the bed and his bad one was laid out on it. Shizune's eyes narrowed as she suspected what he may be doing, but a second later he yanked her down into the bed with him and she yelped loudly.

"I'll take watch. You get some sleep," Naruto told her as he put his back up against the wooden bed frame was beside. Shizune moved to get up but Naruto's grip was steady on her wrist and after a few minutes of struggling she sighed and laid her head down on the pillow that Naruto was previously laying on.

"Fine," she mumbled tiredly and Naruto released her wrist and watched as she fell asleep within five minutes. After twenty minutes passed Naruto looked to Neji, who was half asleep, and asked, "What happened after we got attacked?"

-[===]-

Naruto hissed in pain as Shizune and Neji helped him walk to the village center. The village was very rustic in nature. There were wooden huts spiraled out from a giant burning bonfire in the middle of the village and wooden torches burned on every pathway. Naruto noticed a contradiction to this village. They enjoyed sitting on the ground and low tables, yet slept in tall wooden bedframes.

Naruto could only guess that they liked their beds enough to spend hours building the bedframes, but didn't want to bother with the tall tables or accompanying chairs. The grey longhaired man led them to a spot at the village center and told them to sit down there. They did so and sat down on a large bear pelt. The pelt was so large that Naruto couldn't even fathom where a bear of that size would even live.

The trio looked around in wonder and saw animal pelts of varying species and sizes spread around the burning bonfire. Naruto once again questioned in his mind where exactly they were, but his question has so far went unanswered since the grey haired man left them alone for the entire day and the lady that brought them their food turned out to be mute.

Lights and decorations fawned all over them. A drum beat proudly rang through the clearing as twenty drummers went along the same pace. Naruto rubbed his eyes as his head pounded painfully along with the drums, but he wasn't going to turn down the village's generousity. Soon a variety of food was set down in front of them. There was various fruits, some the trio recognized, others they didn't, cooked meats, vegetables, and a red liquid in three bowls.

None of the trio moved to eat until Naruto reached for the red liquid and took a hearty drink. The drink burned his throat as he downed the bowl and then he sat the bowl down and picked up one of the fruits. Neji and Shizune watched him cautiously and after five minutes when he didn't croak over dead they to begin to eat the food.

After another ten minutes a sloppy grin came to the blond's face as a cute lady refilled his bowl of red liquid and Naruto started to sip on it again. "Ne, Shiiii Shi, are you feeling any better now?" Naruto asked as he leaned against her a little. Shizune smirked at him and shrugged.

"I'm still tired, but there's nothing that can cure that except more sleep," she replied. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed and before he could ask another question another triage of ladies and men got up and started dancing in a circle around the fire. Naruto watched them and then he leaned against Neji a little and smiled sloppily. Naruto could only wonder how his blind friend was holding up.

Neji was tense and didn't reach out for anything. He was withdrawn extremely and flinched when Naruto or Shizune would touch him any. "Nejiii," Naruto slurred out as he noticed that his friend hadn't grabbed anything that had been put in front of them. Neji's head turned towards Naruto's voice and Naruto smiled happily. "You gotta try some of this," Naruto said in a slur.

"You're drunk Naruto," Neji said matter of factly. Naruto laughed into his friend's ear and leaned away, and a second later he was back with a bowl of the red liquid.

"Try this," Naruto said and he leaned the bowl up to Neji's lips. Neji flinched again as the liquid suddenly hit his closed lips. Neji opened his mouth and the liquid entered and stung his throat as he went down. A trail of the red juice slipped down his face and without thinking Naruto wiped it away.

"Its…good," Neji commented dryly as his head suddenly snapped to the side as a loud gong bellowed out with the drums. His body was tense and Naruto recognized the reaction. Neji was gearing up to fight.

"Calm down," Naruto all but whispered into his ear. Naruto drunkily pulled his injured body so that his legs were spread and Neji's back was at his chest. "Shizune, give Neji some of that meat," Naruto told her as he wrapped his arms around Neji's stomach.

Neji elbowed at Naruto but his elbowed didn't hit anything significant. "Get off me you idiot," Neji hissed. He felt Naruto shake his head against his back and then Shizune's hand was on his leg.

"Noo, not until you calm down," Naruto said in a slur before he laid his head against Neji's back. Naruto closed his eyes and tried to experience what his friend was experiencing.

"Here, try this, it's good," Shizune said as she grabbed Neji's hand and placed a chunk of meat in it. Neji sighed and gave in to his companions. He tasted the meat and was shocked at its texture and flavor. It wasn't like the meat back in Kohona. No, this meat held more of a spicy taste, but the spice wasn't hot.

"Good, mmm?" Naruto said. For the next half hour Neji was coddled and fed as Naruto stayed cacooned around him and Shizune handed him things to eat, try, or drink. Neji relaxed as his surroundings continued to pound on and make unfamiliar noise, but he couldn't bring himself to care. After a while the drums pushed him into a type of trance and he physically relaxed into Naruto's hold.

Naruto all but purred against his back and his grip lessened into a comfortable hug. Naruto's head was now resting on Neji's shoulder and Shizune was leaning lightly onto Neji's arm and her right hand rested on his leg. The trio was tired and worn from their flight from danger and they all felt it in different ways. Neji still felt sick and was blind, Shizune was emotionally torn, hurt, and confused, and Naruto as physically injured and felt lost in his beliefs.

The trio stayed like this well into the night as they drank and ate in peace. It wasn't until the festival was beginning to die down that they were approached again. The grey haired man that housed them sat down beside them on the giant bear pelt and smiled at them. "Well, you three certainly look comfortable," he commented.

Neji immediately went to sit up but Naruto's arms shifted to Neji's chest and pulled him back to his chest. Naruto was half asleep and slurred an incoherent mumble. "What?" Neji asked as he turned his ear to Naruto's mouth. Naruto mumbled something that made Neji's spine straighten and a blush spread out across his face.

"Naruto!" Shizune chided and smacked his arm. "Neji is not a possession!" she continued before she turned to the grey haired man. "I'm sorry Sir. We're a little drunk," she apologized. The grey haired man laughed.

"I never caught your name," Naruto said as he sat back and let Neji sit up as well. Naruto rubbed his eyes as he looked to the man in complete seriousness.

"Well, Naruto, my name is Lue," Lue told the group. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he suddenly understood who this man was.

"You're not going to give the old pervert our positions are you?" Naruto asked as his body tensed for a fight. The old man laughed as he shook his head.

"No! Heavens, boy! Look at you. You are in no condition to fight. He did say that you were going to be feisty though," Lue said as he smiled at the trio. Naruto looked at the man in a hostile manner as his mind put together the facts. Lue was given an assignment to look out for Naruto should he travel in this direction. Lue was a spy that was a part of his master's spy network. Lue worked for Jiriaya. Jiriaya worked for the resistance.

"What did he want you to do?" Naruto asked in a low dangerous voice. He knew that Jiriaya knew where Naruto was heading because Naruto received the information about the blind monk from Jiriaya. What Naruto didn't know was that Jiriaya knew more about the area they were in now than Naruto did. Would Jiriaya give away his position?

Naruto's mind worked sloppily but he tried to beat the drunken haze he was in and speed through the potential outcomes with the current facts. They were as good as captured if Jiriaya and his contacts gave their position away and Naruto knew that. His group was in no condition for further travel or fight. They were injured and sick.

"He told me to keep an eye out for you and your companions and to help you along should you need it," Lue said as he lifted a bowl of the red wine up to his face and took a sip. "Your master isn't against you," Lue said and Naruto's face opened up into surprise. Lue smiled at his reaction and said, "It was written on your face. I am well informed of the situation in Kohona, and of the part that your master plays. If he wanted you captured then you would already be on your way back to that place by now."

Naruto blinked as he looked at his companions and then Lue. Lue was right. Naruto smiled as he felt the respect and love he had for his teacher return and the deceitful thoughts take a leave. "Thank you for your generosity old man," Naruto said with a smile. Lue laughed again before he shook his hand in front of his face.

"You are an odd one, Uzumaki Naruto. The man you seek is over there," Lue said as he pointed towards the other side of the raging fire. Naruto's eyebrows shot to the sky and he tried to look through the fire, but it was impossible due to its height.

"How did you know we were…" Naruto began but then he shut his mouth and shook his head. "Thank you again old man," Naruto said as he unfurled himself from Neji and tried to stand up. Naruto hissed in pain as he tried to put his weight on his injured leg, and was about to fall down when Shizune shot up and slid underneath him to help support him. Neji got up as well and slid underneath his other arm. Neji was supporting the side that Naruto couldn't.

"Follow me," Lue said as he too got up and walked in a lazy manner around the fire. The trio followed slowly while Naruto instructed Neji on where to place his feet since the village center was now loaded down with drunk and cheerful people who were laughing and having a great time. They were practically everywhere except two places. The place they came from, and the place they were going.

Lue sat down in front of a man who was covered in red robes. A sash came down from his shoulder and wrapped around his waist, and then came up his back. The man's eyes were open and his head was pointing towards the general direction of Lue. "Lue, my lad! How are you?" the old man asked.

The old man's eyes were grey and misted over. His face held a well groomed beard and a long mustache. His head held no hair, but had many faded scars running across it. Naruto looked at the man and smiled happily as he realized that his teacher led him to the monk they were looking for. He would have to thank him later. Lue replied in a positive manner and then the old man's focus went to the trio.

"Naruto-kun! It has been a long time since I have sensed your vibrant chakra," the old man said. Neji and Shizune deposited Naruto onto the giant pelt that Lue and the old man was sitting on.

"Ne, old man! It's been a long time since I've seen your crazy mustache to!" Naruto replied. The old man's hand went to his mustache almost immediately and he pulled and groomed the hairs on habit.

"There is nothing wrong with my mustache young man. You are just jealous that you too do not have one as magnificent as mine," the old man replied. Naruto's head tilted back and he laughed hard.

"I am glad to see you Ruk-sama," Naruto said as he finished laughing. Lue, Shizune, and Neji were lost as the two conversed like old friends.

"I wish I could say the same about you lad, but you are injured and your companions are not doing so well either. What brings you to me?" Ruk asked as his face settled down into a serious expression.

"Ruk-sama," Naruto began nervously, "these two people are my companions. This here is Shizune." Naruto put his hands on her and pushed her gently towards Ruk, "Go shake his hand or pat him on the shoulder." Shizune moved forward nervously as she approached the old man.

Just what was Naruto thinking putting her on spot like this? She didn't know this man. He was blind from what she could tell and she still didn't know how to act around people who had lost their sight. Neji was tough enough, but she knew Neji and could be close to him without injury. Ruk was different. She stopped in front of Ruk and nervously fidgeted.

A kind smile came to Ruk's face and his hand lightly rubbed her shoulder. "Shizune-san, huh? Oh my, you are beautiful!" Ruk said as his hands went up from her shoulder and to her cheek. Shizune blushed immediately and fidgeted her hands. "You are a very compassionate woman I see, but what is this? You are in pain," Ruk frowned lightly before he let his hands fall back down to her shoulders. "It is okay my lad. You will soon find the answer," Ruk said as he smiled at her and patted her shoulder.

Shizune nervously nodded and bowed to the old monk, and retook her spot beside Naruto. She elbowed him painfully in the side to which he grunted. Ruk gave out a bellowing laugh and Naruto smiled. "Shizune, please take Neji to him," Naruto asked her kindly as he put Neji's hand into Shizune's. Shizune nodded as she understood what Naruto was doing. He was introducing them to Ruk in a way that Ruk could understand and sense.

Shizune led Neji to Ruk. "He may touch you," Shizune whispered into Neji's ear, "If he does don't panic. He is like you." Shizune purposely left out the ailment Neji had. She noticed that if Naruto or Shizune mentioned his blindness then Neji would sulk for the rest of the day if he wasn't sulking already.

Ruk didn't respond when Neji was set out in front of him, and this confused everybody greatly. Ruk never hesitated to touch anybody. Lue watched on in great interest as Ruk slowly but steadily grabbed Neji's hand. "My lad," Ruk whispered out softly as he put his other hand onto the other side of Neji's hand, "You've been through a great deal. I see that you have lost something that was precious to you." Neji's face scrunched up in anger and for a moment Shizune thought she would have to pull Neji away from Ruk. She didn't want Neji to assault the man that they traveled all this way to see.

Shizune was about to move to pull Neji away but Ruk's hand shot out and pointed towards her. "It is alright lad. He will not attack me," Ruk said and Neji bit grinded his teeth angrily at the man. "Neji," Ruk said his name without any emotion, "Men like us walk a rough path in life, but it is not without meaning. There is a balance even if we cannot sense it. With the loss of one thing we always gain something greater. Do not forget that."

Ruk then pulled his arms away from Neji and smiled at him. Neji backed away and found Shizune's hand. Neji was confused and scared. He didn't want to admit it to anybody but everything frightened him now, even meeting fragile old men. He felt weak and unworthy of life. Neji bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you Ruk-sama. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Ruk smiled as if he was pleased by the teen's response.

"I too am pleased to make your acquaintance young one," Ruk said as Neji raised and together with Shizune retook their positions beside Naruto. "Ne, Naruto, why don't you approach me?" Ruk asked curiously to which Naruto laughed.

"I am injured old man. I cannot walk right now. I would prefer not to," Naruto said aloud, but Naruto knew the real reason why he didn't want to approach the old man. He held powers that Naruto didn't want used on him right now. Naruto didn't want his already shaky resolve to dissiapate tonight. He didn't want to feel lost again. For the first time in the past year Naruto actually felt rooted to reality because of his companions.

Ruk laughed and shook his friends in front of his face to fan his face lightly. "Very well young man. As much as I enjoy your presence, I must ask again. What has brought you to me?" Ruk asked curiously.

"Ruk-sama. Neji has lost his sight because of me," Naruto told the old man respectfully. Neji was about to pip up his opinion on Naruto's words but Shizune's hand quickly shot to his mouth and Neji's words became an incoherent mumble. "The lives me and my companions have led have not been an easy, but without sight my friend sees his life as forfeit," Naruto told the old man sadly. Neji was still struggling against Shizune to get his words out, but what Naruto said next made him freeze in place.

"I humbly request for you to train him in the ways of your sight, and the ways that you see the world," Naruto said aloud and then he kneeled down on his injured leg and bowed his entire body and head down to the old man. The group of five people froze all except Ruk and the other patrons of the festival around them.

"Naruto, my lad," Ruk said aloud as he seemed to reach out from his spot. Naruto felt his senses and body get touched by energy of a sort and Naruto rose from his painful bow. "You have grown so since we first met," Ruk said and he smiled as Naruto looked at him with confusion and at lost for words. "You no longer pursue the world selfishly, but you are still lost," Ruk continued and Naruto felt his heart twist painfully. This isn't want Naruto wanted and he began to panic, "I will help you and your companions if you agree to do something for me."

"Anything old man," Naruto said as he felt the energy lift him up from his injured leg and deposit him back on his rear end so that he was no longer leaning against his injured leg.

"Naruto-kun. I want you to embrace peace and live in it. I want you to understand the world and to find your place in it. I want you to find love, and to love thyself as much as thy prisoner," Ruk said with a smile on his face the entire time, "If you agree to do so then I will help you and your own, but if you do not or do so and then do not, then I will send you on your way and wish you the best."

Naruto looked up at the old man and he felt his stomach swirl in fear and his heart thrum in pain. He was afraid of doing what the man wanted, but if he didn't do it then Neji would never become more than a scared blind cat. The group was silent as Naruto pushed his worry and fear down into a small ball in his stomach. He felt physically sick from the emotion but he nodded his head in agreement. "I promise to do so Old man. I will find peace and embrace it," Naruto said, but when he fell silent Ruk interjected.

"And?" Ruk asked.

"And to understand the world, and to find my proper place in it," Naruto continued and fell silent again. The pit of his stomach felt like something exploded in it and sweat was stinging his face.

"And?" Ruk said as a wily smile came to his face.

"And…And," Naruto stuttered as the words came in a struggle, "And to find love, and to love…myself, and to love my…my." Naruto went silent again as he struggled with the last word. He knew what Ruk wanted, and it frightened Naruto more than it should. Finally, after a few more seconds he said, "And to love my prisoner."

Ruk nodded as he was satisfied. "Very well my lads. Please enjoy the rest of this wonderful festival. Lue, I would greatly appreciate it if you would please take them back to the temple when they are done here," Ruk told them. Neji and Shizune came to kneel on both sides of Naruto and slowly the slid underneath his arms and lifted him up.

Naruto withdrew into himself as his friends lifted him up and he was silent until he stopped them from walking away. Naruto looked to Ruk and said, "Ruk-sama?" When Ruk looked towards his general vicinity Naruto continued, "Thank you." Ruk smiled and nodded.

"Think nothing of it until you have completed what you have agreed to. Then you may thank me," Ruk said. Naruto just nodded and then he let his friends lead him back to the pelt they were previously on.

The trio wasn't very talkative for the rest of the night. Neji was nervous, and tried to strike up conversation with Naruto but Naruto was still very withdrawn and silent. Neji did successfully talk to Shizune, but her replies were short and concise. Neji seemed to be the only one who still had an appetite and he ate with the help of either Naruto or Shizune, but even then they were quiet.

When the festival started to die down, and the drummers quit thrumming, Lue returned and led them to a great stone temple that was a little ways from the village. "I will have your things brought here in the morning," Lue said as he guided them to the temple's mass room. Great statues loomed over them and pillars held up the structure proudly. "You will be staying in this room for now," Lue explained before he left and returned with cots for them to sleep on. "Good night," Lue bid them farewell and left them in the temple.

Naruto looked up at the statue as the torches cast long shadows on it and the walls around them. "This is a little condescending, isn't it?" Naruto said aloud. It was the first thing he really said to them since he talked to Ruk. Shizune muttered in agreement while Neji asked what he was talking about. "There are statues in this room. We are in a temple. The light from the fire bounces these shadows around the room that are creepy looking," Naruto explained as he settled down on his cot beside Neji's cot.

Neji laughed a little before he yawned. Shizune settled down into her cot which was on the other side of Neji. "You didn't have to do that, you know?" Neji said aloud as his head faced Naruto's general direction.

Naruto remained quiet until he quietly responded, "Yes. Yes I did." Neji frowned at him. He didn't understand just what exactly made Naruto afraid. Naruto was hardly afraid of anything. Hell he jumped off a cliff and into a raging river just two days ago. Neji moved on and said, "You didn't cause me to lose my sight. I did."

Naruto laughed at him and disagreed. "No. I made you lose your sight. I could've just as easily blocked your attack and fled, but I put you in this situation and it cost you your sight," Naruto argued. Neji scowled and sat up, but Naruto didn't bother sitting up. He was too tired and emotionally taxed.

"I lost my sight on my own accord! If it weren't for you I would've lost my life as well!" Neji argued.

"No! You lost your sight due to my stupidity and selfishness!" Naruto sat up this time and glared at the Hyuuga. "I should've never told you were I lived knowing full well that it could've implicated you into an assassination plot. I made you lose your sight and I might as well clawed your eyes out with my own fingers for all the good I've done you!" Naruto yelled.

Neji growled angrily and Shizune shifted so that she was ready to break them apart if need be. "Guys," Shizune tried to defuse the situation. They both looked towards her and growled angrily, and then looked towards each other again.

"Naruto! I choose to attack you and attempt to take your life! It was my choice!" Neji yelled back as his face flooded red with anger. Naruto seemed to bustle with anger for a few seconds before he glared heatedly again at Neji.

"No. You didn't have a choice in the matter. Either you done it or you died," Naruto said almost quietly, to which Neji found odd.

"I should have chosen death!" Neji replied snarkly and then he looked away from Naruto. He was angry that Naruto blamed himself for the predicament they were in. Naruto glared at Neji and before he knew it Naruto punched Neji across the face. Neji was immediately on guard and he threw his fist towards where he thought Naruto would be. His fist hit Naruto's head, not his face, and Naruto hit the ground hard. Neji looked in Naruto's general vicinity and twitched in barely controlled anger.

"Never say that again!" Naruto said as he got back up. Shizune took a step back and was at loss for words or actions as the two men argued with each other. "Your life is worth more than you think it is your idiot! I don't know what I would do without you!" Naruto screamed out before he got up on his pained leg and hissed in pain. The argument was getting too emotional for him. Tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes and down his cheeks.

Neji was silent since they started arguing at the blond's emotional outburst. He didn't know how to reply. Naruto was limping away painfully and Shizune was trying to help him or guide him back to bed but he was having nothing of it. Naruto shoved Shizune away and hopped towards the door. "You have free will now, you idiot. It's not life or death anymore," Naruto said as he tried to exit the temple.

Tears were now freely falling down his face and he couldn't stop them anymore. He fell against a pillar and slid down to the ground in a crumpled heap as he held back a sob. It hurt too much to try to escape anymore, both emotionally and physically. Naruto tried to hide the tears with his arms and hands but they wouldn't stop.

Shizune kneeled down and tried to wrap her arms around Naruto but he pushed her away. "Come here," Shizune said, but Naruto blurted out a 'no' and kept trying to hide himself. Shizune shook her head and forced Naruto's face into her chest and wrapped her arms around him. Naruto sobbed against her as he broke down from the choices and events of the past week.

Neji stayed at his cot as he listened to Naruto's sobbing, and after ten seconds he couldn't stand it anymore. Naruto was strong. He was strong enough to never show his emotions, but Neji finally realized that Naruto had delicate emotions. Naruto wasn't a drone, and Neji realized that if Naruto wasn't a drone then neither was he.

Emotions were beaten out of him at an early age. He was taught to show no emotion unless he was instructed to. He was raised as a tool. So when Neji got up on his hands and knees and crawled over to Naruto he truly had no idea what he was doing. Neji wrapped his arms around Naruto and Shizune both and laid his head against the side of Naruto's and Shizune's.

At first Naruto flinched almost violently but then he melted into Neji's and Shizune's touch. He was tired, stressed, hurt, and afraid. He didn't know what to think but his friends, both of them, were by his side and holding him. At first he thought they were stupid for getting so close to an emotional ticking time bomb, but he couldn't help but melt into their embraces.

"I'm sorry," Naruto sobbed out as his head turned and snuggled against Neji's in a cat like fashion.

Neji shook his head and said, "No, I should be the one that is sorry." Shizune looked to the two, sighed, and wondered if the argument was going to reignite.

"I wanted you to live," Naruto said as he leaned back a little so that he could look at Neji. "I knew there was a risk that Hiashi would pit you against me, but I didn't want to push you away. You were the first person my age, other than Shizune, to get to know me," Naruto explained. "I didn't meant to gamble your life," Naruto finished. Neji was silent as he took in his words and then he let out a big breath of air.

"That man made me do things that I never wanted to do. I've killed children Naruto. I've had to kill my own clansmen and huntdown my allies. I wanted to die, but I couldn't bring myself to do it," Neji told them as he looked down out of reflex and shame. "I taunted Hiashi on a regular basis but he wouldn't kill me. He would only leave me in agony. I regularly patrolled the streets to try and make up for the evil that I've done, but even that wasn't enough to clean my sins away. Hiashi found out my knowledge because he tortured me, and then ordered me to kill you.

When I came to you that night I was coming to you for death, not life. I wanted it to end. I wanted to be free from the evil that I've caused, and the evil that ruled over me," Neji told them as he wiped the tears away from his eyes. He didn't understand why he was crying, but he was. Naruto's hand came up to wipe the tears away and suddenly with a pull Neji's forehead was against Naruto's.

"You are no longer ruled by that evil Neji. You are free," Naruto told him. Shizune felt loss at what to do in this situation, so she hugged the crying culprit. Neji seemed to melt to the ground and against her and Naruto's embrace. Neji cried as his heart broke and his stomach swirled as his barriers broke. He couldn't hold strong against the thoughts he felt for such a long time. He never thought that he would share the thoughts with another person, or even two people.

"You are both at fault," Shizune said aloud and the boys looked to her. "If we are to blame someone, then you are both to blame. Either accept this or don't bring it up anymore," she continued and she used her hand to wipe some tears from Naruto's cheek. Naruto nodded tiredly and Neji just mumbled in agreement. "Can we go to bed now?" Shizune asked tiredly. Even though she slept that day she was still tired.

Neji gave off a small chuckle and Naruto smiled at her. "Yes," Naruto said, and Neji mirrored his words.

-[===]-


	8. Fox Days

**Chapter 8**

_Fox Days_

Naruto made Shizune go to sleep as he took on the night watch. Even though they were in friendly territory, relatively speaking, he had faith in the resolves of the people they fled from. They would send people eventually Naruto reasoned, and why not sooner than later. However, the night passed by quietly and in the morning Ruk and Lue came to the temple with their belongings.

"Good morning young lads!" Ruk called out as he walked on a cane and lent on it as a crutch. "It is good to see that you three are resting so peacefully!" he continued. In actuality Shizune and Neji were the only ones resting peacefully and that was up until Ruk appeared to them.

"Good morning old man!" Naruto called out and smiled at the man. Naruto was in a better mood since last night. The breakdown he had helped him a lot more than he cared to admit. His head felt clearer even though he was tired, and he was allowing the Kyuubi to begin to heal his wounds again. Shizune mumbled something half asleep as she got up from her cot and Neji sat up and stretched.

"You three will be staying here at the temple while you reside here in our humble village," Ruk continued but Naruto was curious as to why they couldn't stay in Lue's guest quarters.

"How come we can't stay in Lue's guest quarters?" Naruto asked them. Lue smiled at him and Ruk shook his head.

"You see, those beds are meant for wary travelers who have lost their way. It's why the quarters are so rustic. It is actually very difficult to find our village," Lue explained as he crossed his arms, "You wouldn't of found us if we weren't looking for you." Naruto looked at the old man in thought and something made sense to him.

"This place isn't on any map is it?" Naruto asked as he tried to gauge the situation. Lue shook his head and confirmed Naruto's suspicions.

"Nay, you see this place is a safe haven for those seeking peace. This village was found alongside the Nindame River during the first great shinobi war. The first Raikage didn't like the war and after months of fighting he wanted a retreat, so he secretly collected a handful of villagers and whisked off with them into the wilderness. This is the result of his hard work," Lue explained. Naruto's, and now Neji's and Shizune's minds were moving a mile a minute connecting the dots.

"I see. So that's why there were seals painted onto the structures of the village, and why the bonfire continued to burn so large and long last night," Naruto said as he connected more dots. "This place is warded from everyone," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, but it is not a perfect solution. People do find us occasionally, but more often than not we bring them into the village to rest their weary legs or to save their lives from the elements. The wards only keep our lights and sounds from traveling past the borders of the village," Lue explained. Naruto nodded in understanding. Lue was telling them that they weren't safe just because the village was warded. Every place has their spies.

"Neji, my lad, it is time to start your training!" Ruk said as he shambled over to the blind man on the cot.

"How do you know where I am at?" Neji asked curiously as he dressed himself.

Ruk laughed at him and said, "Come and learn young one." With that Ruk started to shamble out of the temple and into the large field beside the temple.

"Shizune, please stay with Neji for now," Naruto asked her. Shizune just nodded and helped Neji follow after Ruk. Lue was hanging around the temple waiting for Ruk and the other two people to leave, and once gone he turned to Naruto.

"The master says that there are forces out looking for you still, but that the ones that were initially sent have returned. I don't know how long we can shelter you, but we will do what we can for the time being," Lue told Naruto, who nodded in reply.

"Can you find something out for me?" Naruto asked him, to which Lue blinked at him.

"That depends. What is it?" Lue asked.

"I want you to find out who was sent after us," Naruto said, "And in return I will do work for you." Lue's eyes widened and then he threw his head back and laughed. He wasn't expecting Naruto to offer his services in return for his services since they shared the same master.

"You are a wily coyote my friend. I will do as you asked, and in return I want you to take my wilderness patrol from me for one week. I get tired of roaming some days," Lue said. "You are to patrol from the Nindame River up to the South up to Giant Eagle Perch to the North for up to eight hours a day. Are you able to walk?" He explained and asked.

"Yeah, I can walk," Naruto said as he shambled up and put some weight on his injured leg. He limped hard to the door and smirked to himself. "Is it okay if I patrol the area from the afternoon til evening?" Naruto asked him as Lue was fixing to leave.

"Yes, that is fine. As long as you patrol the whole area we're good. I can usually patrol the whole area in a slow walk myself, so I don't think your injured leg is going to stop you from getting the whole area done," Lue said before he waved and bid him goodbye.

Naruto smiled to himself. Things were going well for him and his companions. After a while of shambling around Naruto found an appropriate walking stick, which looked more like a cane, and found a tree to lean against. Naruto found a smile as he watched Shizune and Ruk train Neji. He wondered fondly as to what they were learning down there, but he decided that his days were filled already with the patrols he would have to start later that day. Naruto slipped into sleep and let the Kyuubi continue healing his aching body.

The Kyuubi was good at two things, destroying and hate. Healing was not his strong suite but over the past century he had gotten the art down to perfect. To say that he wasn't annoyed that his container would block his chakra from healing him was like saying ants weren't attracted to sugar. Naruto blocked the Kyuubi's healing chakra after he woke up yesterday because he didn't want to feel his chakra coils burning all day.

The Kyuubi's chakra also had an emotional and mental effect on Naruto. The chakra was tainted with the Kyuubi's emotions and element. The fox most often felt rage and hatred for the existence it now lived, and that rage and hatred would become Naruto's when he used the demonic chakra. It was why Naruto didn't like to use the demonic chakra. It made him feel like a raving lunatic even when the chakra was simply healing him. It was difficult to suppress thoughts of violence while the chakra was flowing through his veins and Naruto would often isolate himself after he was greatly injured just because he became a jerk while healing.

However, if Naruto went to sleep while the Kyuubi was healing him then Naruto would wake up inside of his mind and either wanders aimlessly through memories or approach the Kyuubi against his own free will. It was a time like this that Naruto found himself drawn to the Kyuubi while he healed him. After what seemed like hours of walking Naruto was standing in front of the Kyuubi's cage just staring into the darkness.

"You insolent flea," The Kyuubi said as his eyes opened and glared at Naruto. "You just cannot seem to stay uninjured can you? You can't even keep your mates from being injured either. You are weak," Kyuubi hissed at the blond.

"Shut up furball! What do you even know about that? You're just a destructive force of nature!" Naruto replied angrily as he turned away. Kyuubi bellowed out a laugh before he continued.

"Your disrespect does not surprise me flea! You have no respect for the nature of your world or for those around you. I am surprised you have even made it as far as you have so far without death. How are you going to fulfill your stupid little promises now?" Kyuubi said as he started laughing again.

Naruto began to quip back in rage and anger but he bit his tongue and paced away from the cage. The Kyuubi wasn't helping his mood and the chakra flowing through him was making him angrier than an upset hornet's nest. "You may be right furball, but at least I am not as angry as you are," Naruto responded as he shut his eyes and focused on his breathing.

"I have a fair reason to be angry! I am kept inside a pint sized runt of a man against my will! I have been inside you and yours for well over a century! I have not seen the sun, or tasted the earth in a century!" The Kyuubi screamed as he started to lash out against his cage. Naruto let out a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. A surge of anger and hatred flowed through him more powerful than before and he twitched and shook with the emotions. "You cannot relate to me flea! You cannot!" The Kyuubi started screaming and the anger Naruto felt finally broke through the barriers he was building.

"I feel no symphony for you Kyuubi! None! You deserve this and you know it!" Naruto screamed before he stormed out of the room where the cage was kept. This only enraged the Kyuubi further, which enraged Naruto further.

"You will learn to respect me flea! You will or I will make you!" Kyuubi screamed as he lashed out in his cage. Naruto fled the room and traveled through the areas of his mind as he tried to find a pleasant memory.

Naruto woke up several hours later to find Shizune beside him and her hands on his forehead. He twitched awake suddenly and looked at her sourly. "Naruto? What's the matter?" Shizune asked him as she noticed the look. Naruto shut his eyes and took deep breathes to calm him down. The Kyuubi was still healing his leg and he didn't want to stop the process.

"Nothing," Naruto lied as he rubbed his eyes, "Sorry for looking at you that way. I had a bad dream." Shizune looked at him suspiciously before nodding.

"Okay, if you say so. Neji is still training with Ruk-san. I came over here to check on you and to bring you food," Shizune said as she handed him a basket with a cloth over it. The food was simple, some meat and fruits. Naruto thanked her and began to eat.

"The Kyuubi is healing my leg now. Lue has asked me to patrol for him while he fishes for information for us," Naruto told her as he ate. "I will be gone in a few hours and I won't return until the patrol is done. Don't sleep until I return," Naruto continued.

"Okay," Shizune replied as her eyes traveled from Naruto back to Ruk and Neji. "I'll make sure to tell Neji. You know, I couldn't understand most of what Ruk was talking about, and neither could Neji. I'm not sure how much of use Neji will gain from this training," she told him. Naruto looked to her to the training duo. Naruto realized that she was worried.

"Ruk-sama is a very capable teacher. If Neji doesn't understand things being taught on the first day, then maybe he will understand it on the second day, or the third day. I can't imagine that the training is very easy," Naruto replied as he watched them with Shizune. Shizune looked to Naruto before she smiled softly.

"You are probably right. In the meantime what do you think I should be doing?" Shizune asked his opinion.

"Whatever you think will help us and whatever you want. We will be here until Neji is comfortable with his surroundings and training. I would like it if you spent a lot of time with Neji. He won't come out and say it but I think he's afraid," Naruto said as he set the now empty basket down beside Shizune. Shizune frowned as her eyes traveled back to Neji.

"I think he's afraid to. He's also suicidal," Shizune told him. Naruto frowned and nodded in response.

"Keep an eye on him for me, will you? I can't be here all the time," Naruto told her.

"Why not?" Shizune asked.

"I've received word that more teams have been sent after us. I need to make sure they don't find this place," Naruto told her with a serious face. "If they find us before Neji is ready then we're forced to flee again. We may not find a place like this again for a long time if so," Naruto explained.

"I see," Shizune said as she focused back on Neji's training, "I will watch after him then. Just don't get caught out there." Shizune gasped as she felt Naruto's arms wrap around her.

"Thanks Shi Shi!" he said happily and after a few seconds he released her. Shizune blushed at his affection and looked down shyly. Naruto suddenly turned serious again as he turned her face towards his. "How are you holding up?" Naruto asked her. Shizune blinked at the sudden question and stuttered an answer.

"I'm o-okay," Shizune told him, but Naruto shook his head.

"No you aren't," Naruto told her and put his hands on her shoulder. For a moment Shizune got mad. Who was he to tell her how she was feeling? But then her anger left her as he pulled her into a hug. "I saw what happened. I'm here if you want to talk about it," Naruto told her as he rubbed circles into her back.

Shizune froze in his grip and shivered against him. He knew what was wrong with her. She broke her vows. She killed a man. Medics were not supposed to kill. They were supposed to heal. She went against her vows. She didn't deserve to be a medic any longer. "I," Shizune began but the words didn't come out. Instead a small sob came out and she cried into Naruto's shoulder.

"Shh," Naruto said as he hugged her and massaged her shoulders and back. "It's okay," Naruto continued. Shizune sobbed for several minutes until she recomposed herself and pulled away.

"I killed him," Shizune said with a quiver in her voice.

"Yes, but you saved Neji," Naruto told her, but she shook her head.

"I broke my vows as a medic. I used my powers to kill," Shizune said. Naruto then realized that Shizune hadn't used her powers since. Naruto frowned at her as he remembered that belief was a very important part of using chakra. If you didn't believe in what you were doing then there wasn't any chance in hell that you were going to do it.

"You used your powers to save a life," Naruto said as he rubbed her shoulder. She slapped his hand away and glared angrily at him.

"I used my powers to take a life," Shizune argued. Naruto sighed. Her vows and beliefs were important to her, just like how his promises and beliefs were important to him.

"You saved one life by taking two lives. You saved my life to by taking those two lives. We wouldn't be here right now without you," Naruto told her, but just as she was about to respond he continued, "Are your vows as important as the two lives of your allies?"

Shizune froze at this question. Obviously her vows weren't as important because she killed those two people in order for her and her allies to escape. Her actions were already completed, and she knew that, but Naruto needed her to see this. He needed her to accept that their lives were more important than her medic vows, and that it was okay.

"N-no," Shizune replied. "Our lives were more important than my vows," she continued feeling as if she was speaking lies. For half her life she followed the vows that medics took in order to save lives. The first one was "Thou shalt not kill."

"We are shinobi Shizune. Death follows us like a plague. There is a reason why many medics never leave the confines of the hospitals. People die. What you did saved us, and I want you to understand that. Thank you for breaking your vows," Naruto said. Shizune looked up at him confused and hurt. How was she supposed to sleep at night, or to return to her master proud? She was a murderer!

"I killed them Naruto," Shizune said as she wiped her eyes tearfully. "I am a monster," she told him resentfully.

"No," Naruto said, "Killing doesn't make us monsters. Enjoying the act makes us monsters. What you did was necessary for our survival." Shizune looked away as she absorbed his words and then they sat silently beside each other for several minutes.

"I guess you are right," Shizune said finally and sighed. "How am I going to be able to ever show my face around Tsunade now?" she asked shamefully.

"Tsunade has killed before," Naruto said as he looked out to Neji's training. It was rather boring to watch because Neji and Ruk were sitting side by side, and they were just talking. Shizune looked to Naruto slightly shocked, and upon noticing her reaction he continued talking, "She lived through the third great shinobi war. She has fought and killed before. It is why she is the greatest med ninja in the nations."

"Because she killed? I highly doubt that," Shizune said in disbelief. She traveled for years with Tsunade and never once saw her kill a man.

"No, because she realized that the vows were obsolete and thrived to exceed them. She has broken every single one of those vows at least once and continues to do so for the lives of her patients and allies. Just ask her," Naruto said as he summoned a toad and pointed towards Shizune. "She will want to deliver a message to the Hokage soon. Please stay with her until she finishes her message."

Shizune panicked. Did Naruto know that she was sent along with him to spy on him? No, he couldn't know! He was simply trying to heal her aching heart. Shizune nodded and stood up. "Okay. I will write her," Shizune said as she started to walk off. She stoped before she got too far away and turned back towards Naruto. "Naruto?" she called out to get his attention.

"Yes?" he replied curiously. She ran back and threw her arms around him, and then hastily kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," she purred before she released him and walked away. Naruto looked back at her in confusion and slight as his hand lightly touched the spot her lips touched.

He smiled at her and whispered, "You're welcome."

-[===]-

Naruto left shortly after his nap and talk with Shizune to patrol the area he agreed to. It was slow going but he kept on his feet and didn't stop while the Kyuubi continued to heal his wounds. It was roughly five hours into the hike and at sundown when anything significant happened.

Naruto stopped immediately as his world went spinning around and pain erupted into all of his senses. Naruto felt his cane drop from his hands and then he fell to both knees in antagonizing pain. His eyes scanned the area frantically and he went about trying to dispel a Genjutsu, but after several attempts he learned that no one was attacking him.

It was then that he heard it, the laughing echoing inside of his head. The Kyuubi's laugh bellowed out from deep inside him and Naruto knew what was happening now. He shut his eyes and clamped down on the control he knew he had over the Kyuubi's chakra, but as he tried to shut the vile chakra out more of it erupted from the demon fox.

The red chakra started to wisp from Naruto's body as it flooded out, but instead of enveloping him into a chakra cloak it started spiraling around him. Naruto's eyes shot open in pain as more chakra flooded out. "Kyuubi! What are you doing!?" Naruto yelled out to the woods as his hands clawed at the dirt in pain.

"I told you Flea! If you do not respect me then I will make you respect me! Perhaps this will make you wiser," Kyuubi said as more chakra started spiraling around Naruto. Naruto panicked and tried harder to stop the Kyuubi from whatever he was doing, but he couldn't and Naruto realized that the Kyuubi was plotting this moment since this morning.

"You deserve no respect you mindless brute!" Naruto growled out as his black dots danced across his vision. He lost vision of the woods surrounding him and Naruto could only wonder just what was going to happen with the amount of chakra that was being thrown around here.

"I do deserve your respect you insolent monkey and until you realize this you will be an animal with no true control over your actions or your life!" Kyuubi screamed out in Naruto's mind, and suddenly the chakra that was flowing around Naruto rushed back to him.

Naruto screamed in pain and lost consciousness, only to wake up a few seconds later screaming in more pain. His body was being shaped and changed on a molecule level. Naruto's back and spine popped as the bones there elongated and grew. His muscles stretched and developed anew. Naruto stared at his hand as his hand shrunk together and his fingers swallowed his fingernails.

Naruto fell to the ground and kicked and clawed and screamed as his body changed. His knees popped inwards and then backwards as they changed directions, and his elbows changed as well. His face and skull shifted and changed to where a muzzle came to be where his nose, mouth, and jaw use to be. A tail grew from the bottom of his spine and erupted outwards and Naruto clawed at the area it erupted from. Finally, his entire body burned as orange and red fur erupted from every skin pore on his body.

Naruto laid on the ground unable to move as the Kyuubi's voice continued to bellow in his ears. "Let's see how you fare now that you are no longer human," The Kyuubi said before Naruto felt the demons presence leave him almost entirely. It wasn't that Naruto couldn't feel the Kyuubi. He could. The fox was still inside of his cage inside of Naruto, but he was asleep and resting.

Naruto remained lying in his ruined clothes for a few hours as his body and mind adjusted to the changes. He eventually wandered to a nearby stream and looked at himself in the moonlight. A fox looked back to him in his reflection and Naruto felt his stomach clench in panic.

"Kyuubi!" Naruto said aloud but only yips came out when Naruto tried to talk. Naruto panicked again and backed away from the water only to run into a tree. Naruto wasn't a small fox. No, he was a colossal sized fox as far as fox sizes go. Naruto was easily larger than any nin-dog Kohona had and larger than any wolf that Naruto had ever seen.

Naruto slipped on the tail that was in between his legs and fell on to his side. He then curled up underneath the tree that he ran into and started hyper ventilating. "What am I going to do? I can't return to the village like this! I can't go back to Shizune and Neji as a fox! I can't even talk!" Naruto thought as he curled more deeply. "Stupid fox! Stupid stupid stupid!" Naruto cursed the Kyuubi angrily as he shuddered and felt a growl erupt from his throat.

Naruto uncurled and jumped in fear until he realized that the growl was coming from his throat. He then quickly scurried underneath the tree again and hid his eyes with his paws. He then set to trying to calm himself with breathing techniques. "It could be worse. I could be dead. This isn't permanent. There's no way this can be permanent. If the Kyuubi done it once then he could do it again! What does he want? Why did he go through all this trouble to change me into something which I am not?" Naruto thought to himself at a mile a minute.

Naruto suddenly twitched from a noise he heard in the forest. It was an innocent enough noise; a simple snap of a branch. It happened all the time when animals were moving through the forest, but his mind couldn't decipher it from danger right now. Naruto took off clumsily running in the opposite direction.

Naruto ran for the rest of the night until his newly acquired limbs could no longer support his weight. He collapsed hours later into a crumpled heap and after a few minutes of debating where to go he crawled into a moderately sized patch of bushes. Naruto's eyes shut tight as he tried to ignore his now heightened sense of hearing, smell, sight, taste, and touch. In the back of his mind he could still hear the sound of the Kyuubi's laughing even in his sleep.

-[===]-


	9. Fox Days Pt 2

**A/N: I do not own Naruto. I hope you guys enjoy this longer chapter! We have just broke 40,000 words now! What an accomplishment!**

**Chapter 9**

_Fox Days Pt. 2_

Naruto lasted three days after he turned into a fox before he gave into his more base orientated needs. He was hungry and new instincts that came along with his new body reared their ugly heads. One moment he was just walking along and then the next his nose was flaring and he was following the scent trail of a rabbit.

The next hour was a blurry memory as Naruto tracked the rabbit down. Once he found it Naruto wasted no time or thought in biting into its neck and jerking painfully. The Rabbit was dead instantly and Naruto dug into its flesh with his canines. Slowly tearing it apart and eating it's still warm flesh and flowing blood. The flesh tasted euphoric for Naruto. The blood stained his fur and he felt delight bubble from his heart from the fresh kill.

Naruto stopped suddenly at what he was doing and backed away from the rabbit in a panic. He stared at the Rabbit's wide eyes in death and felt sick. Blood dripped from his muzzle and he could feel it swishing through his mouth. Naruto ran away from the Rabbit and ran until he found a stream. He felt sick, disgusted and angry with himself.

"I am nothing more than a monster now, am I?" He questioned and stated at the same time to no one in particular. For the first time in three days the Kyuubi did not laugh, nor chortle, nor chuckle, or even insult his host. Naruto took a deep drink of water from the stream and washed the blood from his muzzle. "What have I become if I cannot control myself?" Naruto questioned again as he felt like throwing up.

"What do you want from me fox!" Naruto screamed out loud but only a series of yips came from him. Naruto paced the clearing beside the stream in agitation and anger as the Kyuubi didn't respond to him. He thought of the Rabbit and how he killed it so that he could live. He thought of how unfair it was for the Rabbit, and then that how the Rabbit gave his life so that he could continue on.

Naruto dragged himself back to the dead Rabbit and stared at it in disgust. This wasn't the first time he had to kill wildlife and eat them to survive, but he didn't feel so bad about it the other times. Maybe it was the aspect that he cooked the meat and spread it around for other people to eat as well. Naruto didn't know, but he did know one thing. He wouldn't waste the Rabbit's purpose in death. Naruto went about eating the rest of the Rabbit.

-[===]-

Naruto had after the third day found his way back to the village, but he refused to enter it or approach it. He didn't want his friends to see him in such a state of utter dismay and out of control. However, it was difficult to hide in the areas around the village. He often had to run away as one of the villagers saw him, gasped, and drew attention to him. So Naruto settled for wandering away from the village during the day and sleeping until nightfall.

That night Naruto finally approached his friends. Neji and Shizune were still sleeping in the temple, and Naruto used his ears to range whether or not they were truly asleep or not. After several hours of listening Naruto gauged that they were asleep and approached the entrance to the temple silently. There, at the entrance, Naruto sat down on his back legs and looked at his companions.

Shizune had worry written on her face even in sleep. She had black bags underneath her eyes from exhaustion. Naruto knew without a doubt that she was trying to stay up for as long as possible in order to fight off intruders if they should come, but Naruto knew that after four days of that routine that she collapsed and needed sleep.

He felt guilty that he was useless to them now. If only he could talk then he could explain to them what happened and maybe they would understand, but even then Naruto feared what they would think. They knew about the Kyuubi, and they knew about its reputed behavior. Naruto saw his reflection before. He looked just like the Kyuubi with dark spots surrounding his eyes and tall ears.

Naruto wandered away from his companions after half an hour and went hunting for food. He didn't enjoy the act of killing innocent woodland creatures but he needed subsistence in order to survive.

However, once Naruto wandered away one of his companions stirred. Neji opened his eyes and looked towards the general direction of entrance to the temple. He heard something and whatever it was scarred him enough to sit in fear for half an hour, but he was good at masking his bodily reactions. It was a skill that he gained from years of hiding un-desired reactions from his superiors.

The only way he got Shizune to bunker down and sleep for the night was to agree to take watch for the night, or rather to take listen for the night. Neji didn't know exactly what visited them but it scared him at how silent the being was and how he could only hear it's breathe from the entrance. The being didn't breathe in a humanly manner. No, he knew it was a beast, and that it could've attacked them from where they lay.

The next morning Neji kept their surprise visitor a secret and after he finished training with Ruk for the day he and Shizune went to the village for some grub. "Where's Naruto?" Shizune asked him finally after days of silence other than the initiate small talk.

"I don't know," Neji told her as they held hands. Shizune was guiding him to the town center where most of the day's fresh kills were kept. The village they resided in was unlike one they had ever known. The concept of money here was non-existent and instead a favor system seemed to be prominent. If someone done something for you, such as brings you food, then someone or you will have to repay that favor.

It made everyone in the village friendlier to each other and more likely to help each other out for no reason at all. Shizune sat Neji down on one of the animal pelts and went about getting food and drinks for the both of them. Naruto's absent presence was noticed on the first night he didn't return, and on the second day Lue resumed his patrols. On the fourth night he returned to Shizune and Neji and handed them Naruto's ruined clothes and walking stick.

This only worried the pair even more but Lue assured them that he found no signs of a struggle. What Lue didn't tell them that what he did find he was something could make no sense of, something had happened, but all he knew was that it wasn't a struggle created by human hands. Ever since then Shizune pushed herself to stay awake for as long as possible to keep watch but she was exhausted and failing.

Shizune approached one of the ladies who were dealing out the meat and asked for two portions. The lady brightened up to Shizune. "Hi!" she said as she prepared two plates for them. "Have you heard about the giant fox lurking about?" she asked Shizune. Shizune shook her head in confusion. "Oh it frightens me! I saw it once yesterday down by the river. It was easily the largest beast I have ever seen," the lady continued as she handed Shizune two plates, one for each hand. "Do be careful out near the temple. I know you and your companion are sleeping in the temple, and that the temple has no doors," the lady finished as she smiled at her.

Shizune blinked, nodded, and said her thanks to the lady before moving back to Neji. Neji, on the other hand, was hearing rumors of the fox from villages around him without even talking to them. It seemed the appearance of the fox was the village gossip and it excited everyone. He thought blankly back to the presence that visited them last night and thought, "What if that was the fox?"

Shizune set the plates down in front of him and left again to get drinks. She returned a few minutes later and sat down beside Neji, who was already starting to eat on the meat and vegetables Shizune had brought him. "Thank you," Neji said quietly as he took his drink from her hands and set it in a place he would remember.

"No problem. It seems everyone is talking about this fox that has appeared," Shizune commented.

"It would seem so. Do you think the hunters will hunt the fox?" Neji wondered to Shizune.

"I don't know," Shizune replied, "I wish we knew what happened to Naruto. Do you think Kohona got him?" Shizune was truly worried about her friend, and Neji shared that worry with her.

"I'm not sure. I don't think they did. He's too good at escaping and not being noticed when he doesn't want to be," Neji told her. He worked with Naruto for roughly two years. If the blond didn't want to be found then he wouldn't be found.

"I suppose you are right," Shizune said in relief.

"You are getting some sleep tonight," Neji told her, but she just blew air out of her mouth.

"I got sleep last night. You need sleep tonight," she argued. She slept well last night and didn't want Neji being exhausted during his training. Neji frowned at her.

"How about after we eat we both go back to the temple and I go to sleep, and when I wake up then you go to sleep and I'll take watch?" he proposed. Shizune looked at him curiously and thought about his offer.

"Fine," Shizune said, "but if you are exhausted for your training tomorrow, like you were today, then we are never doing this again." They were mostly silent as they ate other than small chit chat, and when they finished they both done as Neji proposed.

That night Neji remained as he was the previous night, faking sleep, and once again the creature who approached them last night did so again. The creature didn't seem hostile by its actions, so Neji opened his eyes and turned his head towards the entrance.

Naruto froze as his friends non-seeing gaze came to rest on him. He knew he was here. "Should I run? Does he even know I'm here?" Naruto questioned himself as he became as still as a statue and even stopped breathing.

Neji knew he just made the creature nervous but he couldn't take his actions back. His curiosity was too strong to roll back over and pretend to go back to sleep. After a minute the creature fled and Neji was left with more questions than answers. "What is the creature doing? Why is it visiting us? Is it the same creature that the townsfolk are talking about?" Neji wondered before he shut his eyes and got comfortable again.

The trio fell into a routine. Neji would sleep in the afternoon and wake up in the evening while Shizune slept from the evening until morning, and then Neji would go train with Ruk and Shizune would go about making their lives easier and gossip with the villagers, collect favors, or fetch food and drink for Ruk and Neji. At night while Shizune slept Naruto would appear to Neji and watch his companions sleep for an hour or two.

After a week of the routine Neji expected the creature to appear nightly, and by this point his curiosity was too great to contain. It was the tenth day of being a fox for Naruto and his companions were worried for his wellbeing. Naruto was now lonely and at an all-time low from his newest base instincts to survive. He felt like a monster and struggled to keep his mind positive from the change. It was the nightly visits to his friends that kept him from losing his cool.

Naruto wandered up to the temple visit and sat down on his back legs once again, just like the previous nights, and just like the previous nights Neji sat up in his cot and leaned against the wall. Naruto watched Neji curiously and was shocked that their nightly routine changed. "Why do you visit us so creature? If not to kill us, then why come at all?" Neji asked the fox.

Neji wasn't expecting an answer from the fox. Perhaps it was a summoned creature, but Neji had never heard of the fox summoning contract. Maybe the fox was attracted to the temple. Maybe the fox was hungry and was just waiting for a night when Neji wasn't awake to kill them. Neji didn't know. The fox just stared at him in calmness, but what happened next shocked both of them.

Shizune stirred from her sleep and sat up. Naruto was gone from the entrance in an instant and Neji watched his departure curiously. "Why run when Shizune woke up?" Neji wondered internally as Shizune asked him what was wrong. "Nothing, I was just talking to myself," Neji replied.

After that night the fox didn't return for almost an entire week, but Neji knew it returned when he felt its familiar presence around the village. The fox was sticking close to the village now and thanks to Neji's training he was able to pick up the auras of people with the use of his chakra. It became second nature to him to ping out a wave of his chakra in order to find an aura and to read the aura.

Neji knew it was the fox because it stayed well hidden in the brush surrounding the village and that he felt the presence many times before. Neji wondered what the fox was doing and thought to the well beings of the villagers. "Would the fox hurt the villagers? Is it so mindless?" Neji thought to himself and then thought to tell the villagers of the fox, but then he decided against it. "The fox has had ample opportunities to attack by now. If it hasn't yet then I see not why it would now," he reasoned.

Naruto on the other hand was more of a wreck. He spent the week trying his hardest to change forms but he couldn't do it. The Kyuubi was the one who held that key and Naruto realized that, so he tried to persuade the Kyuubi to change him back, but he refused. Naruto had begged and pleaded with the Kyuubi and even took back what he said, but even then the Kyuubi wouldn't change him back. "Not until you have learned your lesson, flea," Kyuubi would say said.

That night Naruto was depressed, lonely, and feeling worthless. He had no success in his recent attempts to court the Kyuubi, he felt disgusted with what he had become and with every passing day Naruto felt these feelings more and more strongly. He couldn't feel angry at the Kyuubi for doing what it did. Naruto was disrespectful to it and showed no concern for its well-being or feelings. Two weeks ago Naruto would've laughed at anyone who said the Kyuubi had feelings, but now Naruto knew better.

The fox inside of him wouldn't talk to him a lot, but from the quips he got from it he learned some of the nature the Kyuubi kept well hidden. Naruto lay in a clearing near the temple as he waited for Shizune to fall asleep and tried to talk to the fox again. Normally Naruto would never try to initiate contact with the demonic presence inside him. Even when Naruto stayed out in the valleys surrounding Kohona for an entire year did he try and not talk to the fox, but his loneliness was painful and he couldn't distract himself from it any longer.

When Naruto was alone for a year he had shadow clones wandering into Kohona and spying for him. He wrote letters to friends and had his clones deliver the letters. He kept himself busy socially and physically, but now he couldn't do any of that. He couldn't communicate with anyone except the being inside of him. He couldn't even distract himself physically all that much because he didn't have hands. He couldn't build a house like he did the first time. He could only hunt, eat, drink, and groom himself and that stuff got boring quickly.

"Kyuubi, what is your true name?" Naruto asked the fox inside of his head while he lay on the lush grass.

The Kyuubi was quiet for a long time until he replied, "Why would you like to know?" There was no malice behind the question. No hint of oncoming violence or evil. No booming voice or hint of laughter. It was a simple question.

"I don't know," Naruto admitted. He still didn't understand just exactly what the fox was but he knew it was intelligent and more caring than it let on. "I guess I would like to know because you have been inside of me my whole life and during that entire time we have never had a civil conversation. We are bound together, you and I, forever," Naruto told the fox. The fox fell silent for a long time until Naruto heard a single word.

"Kurama," Kyuubi replied before he fell completely silent again. What Kurama didn't tell Naruto was that no one had asked for his name in several thousand years. The last person to ask his name was the first shinobi ever to live. Kurama truly didn't know what to think of Naruto and it only confused him that he would ask for his name. He had went without a name for so long that he truly had to think for a few minutes just to remember his name.

"Kurama," Naruto said aloud as he dedicated it to memory, "It is nice to meet you." They both fell silent but for different reasons. Naruto didn't want to push Kurama too much because then the fox would clam up and refuse to talk to him again, and Naruto couldn't have that. He was so lonely that all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep all day. Kurama didn't want to share anymore. He was confused and for once in a long time he felt something other than rage and anger.

After a few more hours Naruto approached the temple to get the first good look of his friends in a week to find Neji sitting on the steps at the entrance. Naruto froze as Neji's head turned to face him and Naruto panicked. He wanted to run away. He didn't want his friends to see him in such a state. He felt ashamed of what he's become and what he's done in the past two and a half weeks, but his loneliness was too great for him to run away from his friend. Naruto felt desperate for someone else's touch and attention. He wanted to hear that he wasn't a monster and that all the innocent woodland creatures he's killed was so that he could continue on living, and that it was okay to kill them.

He wanted someone to not fear him. Not to scream out in terror as they saw him, or to not clench up in fear and throw rocks in his direction. Naruto remembered the many nights that he and Neji just stared at each other in the temple, and he wanted at least that. To be looked upon without fear.

Neji took the creature in with his new senses. His training was coming along nicely and for the first time since he gained this ability he was able to get a good read on the creature that visited them so frequently. The creature's aura was violent and chaotic, but at the same time calming and warm. The aura drew him to the creature but Neji didn't dare move from the steps of the temple. The aura held no foul intentions for Neji but Neji had no training in detecting that type of intentions. He just felt that the creature meant him no harm, and that the creature hadn't hurt him in the past.

Neji was afraid to speak. The only other time he spoke to the creature it fled and stayed away for a week. He didn't want to admit it but he liked the creature. He enjoyed the times it came and sat in companionable silence in the temple with him while Shizune slept. Its presence was one he could feel without trying so much and now that he was better tune to auras its aura only made him want to get closer to the creature.

Naruto was still panicking. He didn't know what to do now even though he often day dreamed many times about his eventual encounter with Neji again. He dreamed of running up to the man and knocking him over only to lay on him and rub his muzzle into his face. He dreamed of Neji's hands on his fur and Neji talking aimlessly to him. Naruto's heart panged painfully with the loneliness of the past eighteen days.

Naruto decided then that he didn't care if his friend killed him right then and there. He didn't want to live in the world any longer if he couldn't be touched by others or talked to. Naruto took a step forward only to hesitate and watch Neji's reaction, or lack of reaction. He took a few more steps forward in fear and tried to quell his hammering heart and head.

Naruto stopped five steps away from Neji and lay down on the ground with his ears tucked low and his tail in between his legs. He couldn't bring himself to take the last five steps. He didn't want to face the rejection his friend may give to him. Naruto laid his head down onto his paws and looked up at Neji's reactionless face in utter fear.

Neji was in shock as the creature approached him. He panicked but remained still. It was no good to show fear in front of a creature. It only spurred them into action and Neji didn't want to have his first night with the creature back as the last night the creature returned. He felt and heard the creature slowly crawl towards him until it stopped roughly five steps away from him. Neji was unsure what to do.

It was then that Shizune walked clumsily and tiredly out of the temple rubbing her eyes. "Neji, what's going on?" she asked as her eyes focused onto the docile fox. She gasped and the fox turned and fled. "Neji! That was that fox! The one we heard about!" she said excitedly as she ran up to his side. At first she broke out into a run to help Neji protect himself should the need arise, but the fox simply noticed her presence and fled in fear.

Neji sighed in relief and anger. He didn't realize until the fox left that he wanted anything to happen except for the fox to leave. Neji got up and blindly grouped back into the temple ignoring Shizune the whole while, but that didn't stop her from talking to him excitedly. "Did you see him? Oh wait! Sorry, I didn't mean it that way! He was huge! He was easily bigger than any of the nin-dogs we have back home!" Shizune chittered in excitement, but then she stopped. "Wait, why didn't he attack you?" Shizune questioned him.

Neji stopped at his cot and sent a glare towards her direction. He was utterly pissed at this point. He waited an entire week for the fox's return to maybe glean answers off of its behavior but it was scared of Shizune. Neji tried to calm himself down but he couldn't as he thought of the fox's magnificent aura and how calming it had been even when Neji was in a panic. Neji wanted more time with the fox like how they normally used to be when the fox visited him in the temple while Shizune slept.

Shizune shut up almost immediately as she noticed the glare. "Go back to sleep," Neji told her as he got comfy on his cot and leaned against the wall. She noticed that Neji was in the foulest mood he has been in since Naruto disappeared. She lay back down quietly and sighed.

"Good night," she said dejectedly. She didn't receive a reply as the night fell back to silence once more.

-[===]-

Naruto wasn't sure what to do anymore. He was so close to Neji yet his friend didn't respond nor react to his presence except with his directionless stare. Was Neji afraid of him? "I'd be afraid of me," Naruto reasoned as he hunted for the day's meal. Naruto tried to understand just what happened last night but he was unable to really make sense of Neji's behavior. He reasoned that his lack of reaction was at least a positive thing. Neji didn't want to kill him, yet.

Naruto spent the rest of the day stalking his friends covertly, but occasionally Neji's gaze would point straight towards him. Naruto didn't dare stalk his friends while they were around Ruk. Ruk was scary with his abilities to feel you out and just know what you were about. So Naruto took a wide birth around Ruk's cabin and Ruk himself.

That night he talked to Kurama again as he lay in his meadow and waited for Shizune to fall asleep. Naruto discovered that even if Kurama wouldn't reply that he would listen. He came upon this discovery when the fox denied him something days ago when he was in his weeklong isolation. "Kurama?" Naruto called out to his mind to see if the fox felt like talking.

"What is it Flea?" Kurama replied in the same monotone rage-less voice he used before. This confused Naruto, but he didn't let it bother him.

"Do you ever feel lonely in there?" Naruto asked. Kurama fell silent after Naruto's question and Naruto thought that perhaps he pushed the conversation too far. He did push the conversation too far. Kurama never understood the concept of loneliness but he felt its affects. This was a conversation he thought he would never have because of what he was. He was too strong to succumb to something as petty as loneliness.

"Foolish mortal! I am the great Kyuubi no Kitsune! Loneliness is a concept created by mankind!" Kyuubi bellowed out and Naruto had the picture in his mind of the fox shuffling in his cage and curling up. Naruto smirked at Kurama's reaction. It meant one of two things: Kurama was lonely, or Kurama truly didn't believe in loneliness.

Naruto allowed the conversation to lull as he napped in the meadow. That night Naruto left his meadow and went to the temple to find Neji once again sitting on the steps waiting for him. Neji's sightless gaze came to rest in Naruto's general direction and Naruto felt his heart flutter in excitement. He one again crept forward until he was five steps away and laid down, but this time he didn't put his head on his paws and his ears weren't tweaked downwards.

"You came back," Neji said quietly as to not wake Shizune. "I can only wonder why you come to me, a blind man. Are you here to kill me or do you have no fear?" Neji asked the beast.

Naruto looked at him in confusion. Neji thought he was here to kill him? Why would he kill him if he's visited him over a dozen times? Naruto looked at Neji's hands to see them fidgeting together in his lap. Neji hardly ever fidgeted. Naruto felt an almost uncontrollably urge to take the five steps and crash into Neji like he often dreamed. His heart fluttered lightly and in excitement at just being this close to him.

Neji was happy for the first time for a last time. The fox creature returned to him and seemed to want to be around him. The calming aura of the fox made him fidget as he felt desires spring up from his soul to welcome the fox to come closer, but he was scared. The fox was a creature of the night. Creatures were often violent and vicious without reason. Could he trust the fox to not hurt him if he welcomed it?

Naruto was in a losing battle with his desires and urges. He wanted nothing more than to take those five steps and lay on Neji. The pain his chest panged painfully as he fought the urges and continued to pang more painfully every time he beat it down. Naruto took a step forward as the urge came back and he saw Neji's hands freeze in panic, but Naruto couldn't control the urge anymore.

It was the same as the first time he was hunting. He needed this. He needed to be close to Neji and to feel Neji's welcoming embrace, but the fear in his heart made him hesitate. Naruto no longer cared if he died or lived by Neji's hands. Naruto took the last four steps slowly and laid down beside Neji on the steps and laid his head on Neji's lap.

Neji flinched almost violently as he felt the furry muzzle lay into his lap and then the rest of the creature's body curl up against his side. The creature was warm against the oncoming winter. Neji felt relief and joy flow through his veins as the creature's head remained on his lap. Slowly, but steadily, Neji allowed one of his hands to come down to the top of the creature's head. He stroked gently and the creature seemingly purred against him. It scared him at first but once he realized it wasn't a growl he continued his ministrations.

Naruto was euphoric. He felt the painful pangs go away as Neji petted his head and felt Neji's other hand come to rest on his neck. Happiness bubbled up from his stomach and a rumbling escaped his chest. This was a first for Naruto but he didn't care any longer. He was happy.

Neji was shocked as the creature's aura changed slightly and Neji felt euphoric once the calm and warm aura enveloped him. He remembered something similar a long time ago when his father would hold him as he cried, or when Naruto carried him during their flight from danger seemingly forever ago. Neji's hands froze as his mind started to truly connect the dots.

"Naruto?" Neji asked as he looked down at the fox. Neji felt the fox's head shift as it looked up at him and suddenly he felt a tongue swipe across his cheek.

Naruto couldn't help himself any longer. Once he licked Neji on the cheek he pushed against him which made Neji fall over. Naruto lay on top of Neji and rubbed his muzzle against his face, head, and chest in pure joy. Neji figured out who he was! "Naruto!" Neji all but blurted out as fur encased him. Neji was grinning at Naruto's antics. "Why are you a fox?" Neji asked as he gave up on persuading Naruto off him.

Suddenly Shizune appeared from the temple once more half asleep. "Naruto?" Shizune called out in exhaustion. Naruto froze from his spot above Neji and Shizune seemed to focus after a few seconds at the compromising position. "Get away from him you monster!" Shizune screamed as she pulled out a few needles to throw at the fox.

"No!" Neji screamed and he dug his fingers into the fur on Naruto's chest. Shizune froze from Neji's scream. "No!" Neji screamed again as he pulled himself from Naruto's frozen form and scooted until his back was against Naruto's muzzle and he was shielding the giant fox with his body. "This is Naruto!" Neji told her to which she dropped the needles from her hands.

"No way," Shizune said as her mouth fell open in surprise and shock. She couldn't believe it. "Naruto is a giant fox now? How could this of even happened?" Shizune asked aloud to which Neji shook his head.

"I don't know but he has been trying to tell me for two weeks now. Don't chase him off!" Neji all but growled. He remembered he previous times that Shizune chased Naruto off and he wanted nothing but to bask in his radiant aura.

"O, Okay," Shizune stuttered before she rubbed her eyes. "Can I sit down with you guys?" she asked curiously. Neji was strangely protective over Naruto at the moment and she didn't want to interrupt anything. Neji thought about it for a moment but when Naruto nudged his back suggestively he sighed and nodded. Shizune came to sit down on the stairs with them and Naruto came to lay down at the top of the stairs against their backs. His tail lay down in Shizune's lap while his head lay in Neji's lap. He was large enough to lay in this manner comfortably around both his friends.

"Can he talk?" Shizune asked curiously. Lue had updated her on the information Naruto requested and even the toad that she sent to Tsunade with a letter had returned.

"I don't think he can," Neji said. Naruto shook his head in confirmation. Shizune sighed before she leaned tiredly against both Neji and Naruto.

"Lue said that there are agents from the Hyuuga still trying to find us. They stopped sending out actual members and are now trying to utilize Jiriaya's spy network for help. Fortunately for us the only agent in this village part of that network is on our side," Shizune updated him on their situation. She felt a flick of fur slide across her face and she smiled lightly before she grabbed the tail in both hands and hugged it.

"I've missed you," Shizune said. She wouldn't tell him that she worried for him every day since he left. It would only embarrass herself. She was also slightly mad at Naruto for not presenting himself to her sooner and that she had to find out by catching Neji and Naruto in the act of reuniting. "How long have you known this was Naruto, Neji?" she asked a bit angrily.

"I only found out a few seconds before you came out," Neji said. Shizune was surprised.

"Really? How so?" Shizune asked.

"I asked if it was him, and he promptly jumped on me and started rubbing on me," Neji said. Shizune laughed and started to pet Naruto's tail.

Naruto was on cloud nine right now. He didn't care that he couldn't talk to his friends. He just cared that he was here with them now and not out in the meadow spending his nights alone. A low rumbling purr wouldn't stop coming from his chest and a foxy grin wouldn't go away from his muzzle. Naruto let out a deep breath as his friends talked and he tried to listen, but he was too absorbed in the simple sensations to pay much attention.

After a while Shizune and Neji fell silent. Naruto looked up to find that Shizune's head was lying against his side with a slight drool stream coming from her mouth. She was truly exhausted and needed sleep. Neji on the other hand silently stroked Naruto's head and neck. He was content enough to lean against Naruto as well and relax.

Naruto shut his eyes and let him fall back to the simple sensations of his friends breathing against him and Neji's hands. He didn't know when it happened but he drifted off into sleep and when he awoke Ruk and Lue was standing in front of them.

"Ah, reunions are sweet are they not Lue?" Ruk said as he stood steadily in front of them with his cane.

"Yes they are old man, but all I'm seeing is a giant fox keeping our friends hostage," Lue said as he pulled a sword out of its holster. Naruto tensed and got ready to run, but Ruk's hand came to rest on Lue's wrist and he shook his head.

"No old friend. This fox is a friendly one," Ruk said as Shizune and Neji were stirred awake by Naruto's back and sides tensing. "Naruto, my lad, I see you have finally come out of hiding. I was wondering when you were going to show yourself to me. I was beginning to lose hope," Ruk told the giant fox. Naruto smiled back in response and a yip came out of his mouth.

It shocked Shizune into full awareness and Neji felt a smile come to his face. "That's Naruto?" Lue asked in shock. He knew that shinobi was in their own class of strength but they could shape shift? Really?

"Yes," Shizune replied as she petted Naruto's tail. She got up then and yawned. She had stuff she needed to do. "Naruto, please don't run off again. We really did miss you," Shizune replied before petting him lightly and walking back into the temple.

Ruk laughed before he stamped his cane a little forcefully. "Neji, my pupil, it is time for training! Go have breakfast and meet me in the field," Ruk said before he turned around and walked away. Naruto smiled as a new routine dominated the next week.

Naruto would sleep from when the sun came up until sometime in the afternoon. Then he would go hunting for himself and return after he groomed himself clean of any blood. Neji would train in the mornings until Naruto woke up, and then whine until Naruto came back from hunting. Shizune and Neji would enjoy Naruto's company from sundown until sunup because Naruto took over the night shift of look out duty.

It wasn't until the fourth night of this routine that they dragged Naruto into the village. Everyone gasped and gave them a lot of leeway to walk as the three of them walked to the village center and sat down. Naruto sat alert as the villagers each looked at them and spoke in hushed tones. Eventually the lady who Shizune talked to before approached them and sat down next to Shizune.

"Say, whose your new friend?" she asked quietly. Shizune smiled at how nervous she seemed to be by Naruto.

"This is Naruto. He's going through a growth spurt of sorts," Shizune said to which the girl gasped and her eyes widened.

"This is that cutie from the first night? Oh my god!" she all but yelled out and the whole village looked at her in confusion. Shizune laughed and Neji smirked at her shock and all the confusion he felt from that statement around him. Neji had grown comfortable with the village after retiring so many nights to it for food and drink.

Shizune stroked Naruto's head to which he purred back affectionately. The village lady blushed and squirmed on the animal pelt. "I am so sorry I threw rocks at you! If I only knew who you were!" the lady apologized before she bowed and ran off. She was only the first to approach them and apologize once she spread the word through the village.

Naruto felt elated and happy. The village seemingly accepted him as one of their own once they knew who he was and that he held no vile intent towards them. Eventually Naruto laid his head into Shizune's lap and shut his eyes a little tiredly. The sights and sounds of the village was a bit too much to take in when he was so used to silence and bugs buzzing.

The routine continued to go much of this same way until a week later when Naruto was cleaning himself from a successful hunt that he talked to Kurama. "I think I understand now Kurama," Naruto said as he licked his back paw.

"Oh? What do you think you understand now flea?" Kurama asked curiously.

"That you are lonely and angry about it. That you have had very little control over any choices you've been given in the past century, and that makes you angry," Naruto said as he continued cleaning himself.

"Loneliness is a human concept flea," Kurama replied once more and Naruto heard a yawn echo through his mind. "You are right about the control part though. When I attacked your puny village I was enraged by a man with the sharigan," Kurama shared with him. Naruto froze from his duty for a few seconds before he continued. He knew better than to press the knowledge that Kurama shared with him.

"Want to be friends?" Naruto asked him. Kurama became silent for several minutes before responding.

"Friendship is another human concept. It is pointless," Kurama told him. Kurama had lived centuries before hand and he had only held one friendship before, and that was to the first container he ever had: The first shinobi.

"Friendship is a worthy concept to partake in. If you do not believe in it then it will not be. Loneliness is much of the opposite. It exists whether we want it to or not but in order for us to understand it and cure it we have to call it something. I know that you are lonely and angry about it Kurama. I would like to be your friend and chase away your loneliness," Naruto told the demon fox.

Kurama smiled from his cage at the change in Naruto. This wasn't exactly what he wanted from the blond man. All he really wanted from him was respect and perhaps a bit of control, but the more Kurama thought about the friendship thing the more he felt that Naruto learned his lesson. Naruto did respect Kurama more, and Naruto wanted to make Kurama feel better as a result.

"Very well Naruto. I think we understand each other a bit better now," Kyuubi told his host before chakra shot out from around Naruto in large spirals. Naruto knew what was happening and he just smiled as it happened despite the large amounts of pain he was feeling. It was nothing compared to the joy of accomplishment he felt inside of his heart.

-[===]-


	10. Frustrations Pt 1

A/N: The ratings on this story have been bumped up to M. I thought about doing it at the death scene but held off until now. This fiction will contain sexual content, themes, and acts. If this upsets you then please either skip the sexual scenes or move on to another story!

Love you guys

Chapter 10

_Frustration_

Naruto woke up naked several hours later in the clearing that he ate the rabbit in. He groggily lifted his arm up to his face to see that he no longer had paws, but _fingers._ Naruto smiled happily to himself but the groaned as the world seemed to pulse around him.

"Kurama, what's wrong?" Naruto asked as he felt his body start sweating and his nerves sky rocket in sensitivity. He groaned again as he shifted his weight off a particularly tender area of his front side and lay down on his back. Kurama was silent just like the last time Naruto changed forms. Naruto figured the fox was tired and needed rest before he could talk to Naruto again.

Naruto got up and stumbled back to the temple at a sedated pace. His head was pounding and his body felt like it was surrounded by boiling water, except that he wasn't and that he was the boiling water. After thirty minutes of stumbling and moaning Naruto reached the temple and collapsed on his cot.

Both Shizune and Neji were fast asleep on their cots. They both had a long day filled with various tasks. Neji trained and Shizune helped out around the village by healing the wounded or diagnosing and treating the sick. Naruto flipped over onto his back again and looked at his friends.

Some part of him wanted to wake them up and talk to them, but another part wanted for them to sleep and continue to look so peaceful. Eventually Naruto's eyes fell to watch Neji while he slept and Naruto felt an urge overcome him. Naruto wanted to cuddle up and sleep with Neji. He done so several times before when he was a fox and Naruto hated to admit it but he really enjoyed sleeping beside someone.

Naruto felt his heart pang painfully as he thought about cuddling with Neji and his eyes seemingly took in every minor detail of Neji's body. Naruto shook his head to break the trance. "What am I doing?" Naruto thought to himself as he tried to look anywhere but Neji. He failed horribly and ended up watching Neji sleep almost obsessively.

The heat that was encasing Naruto seemed to worsen and Naruto felt his mental capacities dwindle. He was so hot that he started kicking his covers off of the cot and squirming. Naruto started panting as his hyper active senses spread to his skin. Naruto crawled on all fours over to Neji and before he knew what he was doing he threw an arm around him and snuggled his sweaty face into Neji's neck.

Neji woke up with a violent twitch and shoved at Naruto, but Naruto didn't budge from his position. If anything he moaned a little as Neji shoved. "Naruto?" Neji said as he recognized the voice and his touch. "You're human again?" Neji asked. Naruto gave a delighted moan in reply and snuggled his face into Neji's collarbone.

Neji stiffened as he felt Naruto's nude form encase his side. He wasn't sure what to do. This was the first time in roughly three weeks that he had seen Naruto in his human form. "What are you doing?" Neji asked him.

"Cuddling," Naruto replied in a husky tone as he pressed himself further against Neji. A purr erupted from the blond and Neji froze even further.

"Get out of my bed," Neji told Naruto. He was uncomfortable with a naked writhing Naruto pressing against him. Naruto frowned and shook his head.

"No," Naruto replied, "I don't want to." Neji shoved at Naruto more roughly and finally dislodged Naruto's limbs from his body. Neji crawled in the opposite direction as he heard Naruto whine. "Nejiiii," Naruto drawled out as he pouted. The commotion woke Shizune up and she looked on to find a nude Naruto pouting to Neji.

"What's going on? Naruto! You're human again!" Shizune said as she hopped up and threw her arms around him. She was delighted that Naruto finally changed back, but she wasn't expecting a deep throated moan to come from her friend. He then wrapped his arms around her, hugged tightly, and purred from his chest. Shizune blushed as she realized the situation they were in.

Naruto rubbed the entire side of his face against hers and purred. "Shizune," he said in delight but as he rubbed her a low moan mixed into the purr he was emitting. Shizune froze at how sexual it sounded and she pushed Naruto away slightly.

"What's wrong with you?" Shizune asked but Naruto just rubbed against her a bit more. The feeling of just his skin touching anything was euphoric.

"I don't know," he replied in the same husky voice. Then he froze as he realized what he was doing and took in the worried looks his friends were giving him. "I…" he started, but he felt too embarrassed to even talk. He fought through the haze and tried to remember what started it. Shizune put her hand on his forehead to check his temperature and she gasped.

"You're burning up!" she said but Naruto only shut his eyes and rubbed against her hand affectionately. A low 'mmm' sound came from his closed lips and he had to resist the urge to lick or nip at her fingers. Shizune blinked and backed away from him in realization that something was wrong.

After a few seconds Naruto realized what was happening. His hyperactive senses were making him react to any little touch from his friends in a sexual way. Hell, he wanted to be touched. He wanted to cuddle. Naruto blinked as more than cuddling came to his mind and he felt an eager hunger rise from the pit of his stomach. Fear came hard and Naruto pushed Shizune's hands away from him and he fell and pushed his way all the way to the temple's entrance in shock.

"I…I have to go," Naruto said before he turned and ran out of the temple. Shizune ran to the door and reached out for him but he was already gone.

"Naruto!" she screamed in worry and anger but she saw the look on his face and knew that he wasn't going to be running back right this minute. "Damn it Neji. What was all that about?" Shizune turned to her friend and put her hands on her hips.

"I don't know!" Neji replied just as perplexed, "One minute I was sleeping and the next I had a naked Naruto snuggling into my collarbone!" Shizune smirked at his misfortune and just shook his head.

"He dry rubbed on me," Shizune said before she shuddered. She wasn't sure how to react what happened. She was still a virgin. She wasn't experienced in sex at all. She knew what it was and what its purpose was, but why was Naruto suddenly so horny? "He was horny," Shizune realized and a large blush came over her face. Neji spluttered unintelligible words for a few minutes before he lay back down on his cot.

"I don't know what to do, but he's gone now. I'm going back to sleep," Neji said, and Shizune wasn't far from doing the same thing.

-[===]-

Naruto ran. He ran all night and all morning. He didn't stop even though his super charged senses pounded at every footfall he took. He didn't even bother to clothe himself and he took great caution to avoid any villagers that may see him. He knew their routines from weeks of watching the village and he avoided them expertly.

Naruto returned to the temple during the day while Neji and Shizune were busy with their other duties and collapsed on his cot. He was exhausted and so tired that there was no way in hell that he could even remotely feel aroused from anything. He slept without dreams until a cane poked him awake.

Ruk stood above Naruto and smirked at his naked rear end. "Naruto my lad," Ruk said before he dropped a robe onto Naruto's butt. "Your friends are worried. Have you no decency to tell them what is going on?" Ruk said and Naruto moaned in an annoyed manner.

"Too tired, want sleep," Naruto said as he tried to ignore the old man. Ruk sighed before he smacked Naruto upside the head with his cane. Naruto was up in a heartbeat clutching the robes to his privates. "What the hell old man!" Naruto hissed as the normally harmless hit actually hurt and felt _good._ Naruto shuddered as waves of pleasure erupted through him.

"Answer my question," Ruk said sternly.

"No. I haven't told them what is going on because I don't understand what's going on. I am…different right now," Naruto told the old man. Ruk just smiled at him.

"Well then let them help you. It will ease their fears and only bring the three of you closer," Ruk said as he began to walk away. Naruto glared at the retreating monk before a deep heavy blush came to his face. Images of pleasurable nights danced across his eyes as he hardened in more one place.

Naruto was now painfully aroused and awake. The sun was beginning to descend and Naruto knew that his friends were going to be coming back soon so he begrudged put the robe on and ran off into the sunset. Running seemed to help him control his arousal and overbearing desires and urges. It gave his body something to do and his mind a trance to fall into.

It was after five hours of running that Kurama finally spoke to him. "Kit, I'm afraid that my chakra has imprinted onto your genetic structure," Kurama said. Naruto panicked.

"What does that mean!?" Naruto thought in hopes that Kurama could hear him.

"It means that your DNA and chakra structure has been changing ever since my chakra has been flowing through you. You are inheriting characteristics from my past life," Kurama explained and for once the fox didn't laugh. Naruto stopped running and leaned over onto his knees panting. At this point he had planned a route that had various streams and rivers for him to cool off or refill at.

"So you're saying that I am becoming you?" Naruto said aloud.

"No. You are inheriting the baser instincts and desires of a fox," Kurama told the man. Naruto sighed as he sat down to catch his breath.

"What the hell? Why me?" Naruto asked. Kurama laughed this time and for a good minute it was all Naruto heard.

"I have never had to use so much chakra on a vessel before. I have healed you so much that it happened naturally over the course of your lifetime. In fact I would guess that the change happened before you even became a ninja and is just now activating," Kurama explained.

"Just like a bloodline," Naruto thought to himself before he got up and started running. "What is happening right now? Why am I so hot and…horny?" Naruto paused at the last part as he found the right word.

"Why Kit! You are in heat!" Kurama said before laughter filled Naruto's head again for a good half hour. Naruto growled angrily at the reply but at least appreciated that his condition now had a name.

"How long is it going to last?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Kurama replied before Naruto saw a smirking fox in his mind, "But have fun!" After that Kurama fell silent and Naruto knew the fox was sleeping once again to regain power.

-[===]-

Naruto dodged people for the next few days very successfully. He would run from sunset til after sunup, and sleep while his friends were out and busy for the day. So far neither Shizune nor Neji caught him on his return visits to the temple, and it stayed that way until four days had passed since he ran out the first time.

Naruto was tired. He was exhausted for running for over eight hours a day for three days. He thought that maybe his body was finally tired enough that he wouldn't want to do anything to his friends and all he really wanted to do was lie down and sleep.

Naruto entered into the clearing that the temple resided in and shut his eyes as a wisp of wind danced across his nerves. Even the wind felt pleasurable to him and Naruto thought about just sleeping in a meadow for the night. He decided against it as a shiver went up his spine. It was getting colder as winter came faster and Naruto didn't want to get hypothermia from sitting still too long.

Naruto opened his eyes and froze when he noticed a figure sitting on the steps leading up to the temple. The figure was pointing in his direction and Naruto felt an excited tingle run up his spine. Neji was waiting for Naruto to return just as he had been every night since he left. Naruto shut his eyes in panic as he tried to control his traitorous thoughts once more.

"It's okay. I'm tired. I can just walk past him and go to bed," Naruto told himself. He took the first few steps forward without opening his eyes but when he did open his eyes he froze once more. Neji's attention was solely on Naruto and Naruto felt _something _brush against him. It was an odd sensation that just excited Naruto even more.

"What's wrong?" Neji asked his friend.

"Nothing, I'm just tired," Naruto replied as he tried to walk more. He only got a few more steps before he stopped as his heart started to pang painfully once again. "What's wrong with me?" he thought to himself as he shut his eyes again to try and regain control.

"Is the Kyuubi taking over you?" Neji asked without rising or showing any emotion.

"Heavens no," Naruto replied but he kept his eyes closed as he talked. "Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Naruto felt that odd sensation brush against him again and Naruto just about lost it. His fingers started twitching and the heat crawled up his spine making every nerve ending more sensitive than they already were with its ascent.

Naruto knew he didn't have that much more willpower to spare. He opened his eyes and charged past Neji on the stairs. Neji's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist and Naruto almost mewed at the sensation that shot up his arm. "Is this about the other night?" Neji asked him in confusion.

Neji was trying to understand his friend. He was trying to work out just what was making him act so oddly. It occurred to him that Naruto was going through something painful but he just couldn't understand or figure out what. "N-no," Naruto stuttered and weakly tried to pull his wrist free. Neji didn't comply and instead pulled Naruto closer.

Naruto saw red right at that moment and tackled Neji to the ground. Neji gasped in shock as they fell onto flat ground. He was sitting at the bottom of the steps to begin with so when Naruto pushed them to the ground it was no problem to land on something flat. Neji's grip on Naruto's wrist broke and Naruto straddled his lap as a purr of delight escaped his mouth.

"Naruto!" Neji called out but Naruto ignored him and gripped onto the front of his robe tightly. He grinded his front side against Neji's and Neji spoke out again, "Naruto!?" Naruto snapped back to attention as the red faded from his eyes. He was painfully aroused and his body was a whirlpool of pleasurable sensations.

"N-Neji," Naruto cried out as he tried not to move, but he failed as he slowly pushed himself against his friend. Shizune, who had been watching from the animal skin that they hung at the door, ran out and wrapped her arms around Naruto from the back. "Shizune," he purred as his head lolled back onto her shoulder.

Neji was frozen underneath Naruto. His body was reacting positively to Naruto's and it confused him. He never thought of Naruto in such a sexual and seductive manner, but he liked being so close to Naruto. It scared him that he liked it so much but with Shizune and Naruto over him he didn't dare try to get up.

"Naruto, what's the matter?" she asked in a soft voice as she tried to make her embrace a friendly one rather than a sexual one, but the way Naruto moved against her made her face heat up. Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't think straight any longer. The heat encasing his body was the worse. His hips grinded against Neji's front side and he moaned as the redness in his eyes faded for a moment.

"I'm horny," he slurred drunkenly and Neji's hands found his hips. Naruto moaned at his touch and tried to grind further against him but the hands on his hips made him stop completely. Naruto whimpered and rubbed against Shizune in pain. "K-Kurama told me that I'm in heat," Naruto said and suddenly Shizune's embrace was gone and she was standing a few feet away.

Naruto fell forward without her arms and his arms returned to Neji's chest. He then pressed forward and kissed Neji full on the lips. Neji froze and Shizune stared in shock. After a few seconds of unresponsiveness from both of them Naruto pressed against Neji's now weakening grip and whined loudly, "Neji!"

"What do you expect us to do about it!?" Shizune all but yelled in panic as she came back to their sides and she pulled Naruto back into her embrace. Naruto whined as he lost his leverage over Neji's face and as Neji's hands found their strength once more. Naruto was panting with effort and lust so when the next few words flew out of his mouth it shocked both Shizune and Neji.

"Please, fuck me! Please!" Naruto all but purred as he leaned against Shizune. "It hurts. Everything is too much. Either fuck me or let me go! Let me run! Let me," Naruto broke off as Shizune's embrace became tighter on him and it caused him to mew in delight. Naruto felt shame and disgust well inside of his stomach at the state that he was reduced to but his lust ridden mind wouldn't properly register the emotions.

"It's okay Naruto! Calm down," Shizune whispered against his ear and Naruto all but purred as her breath tickled his earlobe. They stayed like that for a minute, none of them moving except Naruto who squirmed against their unmoving bodies.

Neji's mind was flying through outcomes to this situation. They could let Naruto run and he could possibly run into another person and take out his frustrations on them, that wouldn't be a good situation, or he and Shizune could try and calm Naruto down. Neji felt a blush come to his cheeks as he realized what he was thinking, but after a minute of Naruto squirming against both of them he didn't care anymore. All he wanted was for Naruto not to leave again so that he could feel his delightful aura for longer than five minutes.

Neji's hands left Naruto's hips and instead found the strap to Naruto's robe. He wrestled with it for a few seconds but when it came undone Naruto mewed like a kitten in delight. Shizune looked down at him in shock. "What are you doing!?" she called out.

"Calming him down!" Neji all but yelled back as his hands found what he was looking for, Naruto's rod. Naruto froze as Neji's hands wrapped around him and both Shizune and Neji heard the audible breath that Naruto sucked in. Naruto tensed up even more but his head lolled back onto Shizune's shoulder.

Shizune was flabbergasted. She never thought that she would be doing something like this with both Naruto and Neji. She wasn't sure what to think or whether she wanted to even help. She thought about running back into the temple and to let the boys just fight against each other, but she didn't want Naruto to run away like he seemed so inclined to do. She decided right then and there that she wanted to help Naruto with whatever he was going through, but her face turned red at the thought.

Neji's hand slowly slid up his rod and Naruto let out a hiss of the breath he was holding in and he practically melted into Shizune's embrace. Shizune started to whisper into his ear, "It's okay Naruto. We're here. We'll help you." Naruto growled back at her in frustration and mindless lust. At this point he couldn't even think at all and his mind was one big blank slate. Neji stopped at the growl and it only caused the growl to deepen.

"Don't stoooop," Naruto said as a moan of frustration escaped as Shizune pulled herself closer to his back. Shizune decided that she was going to help Naruto by just holding him and whispering reassuring words to him but the tone of his voice and the act that was going on right in front of her was making her stomach churn weirdly and her body react in odd ways.

Neji gave a slow shallow pump to the rod in his hands and Naruto all but twitched in delight against him and Shizune. Neji didn't stop there. He continued the slow shallow pumps and Naruto seemed to calm down in their grasps while at the same time a series of mews, moans, and purrs came from him with every movement of his hand. Neji felt an odd sensation waft over him and he tried to ignore it as Naruto started to buck against his hands.

"P-please," Naruto all but begged, "Go faster." Neji complied and started to pump faster and this made Naruto lose his cool. He started to grind against Neji in a wild fashion as Neji pumped and instead of growls, loud moans came from him. Neji was suddenly painfully aware that he was painfully aroused by Naruto's actions since Naruto's hips were grinding against his own erection.

Shizune didn't quite know what she was doing but all she knew was that she couldn't think straight from watching the act going on in front of her. She thought about fleeing once more but she couldn't move from the spot. Her nipples were erect and rubbing against her robe and with every rub against Naruto's back she had to hold back a moan. Suddenly Naruto's hands found her head and he pulled her against his back in a desperate manner.

The motion took her over the edge and for once she didn't care that she didn't know what she was doing. She wanted to explore. She wanted him. Shizune latched her mouth to his earlobe and started sucking and nibbling roughly. This brought Naruto into a twitching and squirming frenzy against the both of them and Neji released his grip from Naruto's rod.

Naruto pushed Neji down all the way and pulled Shizune around until she was straddling Neji's chest as well. Neji gave a huff as Shizune looked around in panic and found herself sitting on top of Neji with her legs spread on either side of his chest and facing a red and horny Naruto. Naruto pulled her up to his chest and his lips found hers. Shizune saw stars as they kissed and Naruto's hard rod ground into Neji's covered privates.

Naruto pulled her as close to him as he could and he grabbed her hips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Naruto suddenly ground forward against Neji's front side and a moan erupted from Neji. In the process of this action Naruto forced Shizune's hips to grind as well and a low husky moan erupted from her as well. "Naruto!" Shizune called out in panic and shock but she couldn't stop her body from giving in to his ministrations.

His lips crashed back into hers almost painfully and a slow sensual pattern erupted from the trio. Naruto would grind forward and push and pull Shizune's hips to do the same. Neji's hands found Shizune's hips as well and he pushed to help keep her up right against him. "Neji!" Shizune all but called out at his traitorous hands.

Neji's mind was a slate of lust at this point. His last defense in denying Naruto was lost when he started trying to relieve the tension his friend was experiencing, but the grinding and the feeling of both Shizune's and Naruto's bodies against his lower regions was too much. He started to push and pull his hips to the rhythm that Naruto was providing and helping Naruto pleasure Shizune.

Shizune was the last to fall into the rhythm. She was embarrassed that they were doing something like this but the sensations she was feeling were too good, especially when Naruto's hands left her hips and found her breasts. Her head lolled back as she grinded her hips against Neji's upper stomach in pure lust. Naruto's head came to rest on her collarbone as he pushed his hips harder against Neji and Shizune.

He was panting and moaning uncontrollably by this point and he knew that he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. Neji started to twitch and spasm in an uncontrollable fashion for a few seconds and then he leant back against the ground spent. Shizune wasn't far behind him as seconds later she pulled Naruto against her body in a tight grip and screamed out a moan. This proved to be too much for Naruto in turn and he came almost at the same second as her.

Naruto hugged Shizune for an uncertain amount of time and shook as almost all the energy he had left his body. He was exhausted but the warm basking glow of the aftermath of their actions made him feel satisfied and happy. Shizune shook as well against Naruto and felt as if her whole body had turned into a blob of jelly. She felt shame as to what they just did but her mind couldn't thoroughly register the emotion as her body gave off after the fact spasms.

Neji's hands wandered up and down Shizune's back and he rubbed circles into her back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. He felt confused and conflicted about what just happened, and dirty. Naruto seemed to be the first to come out of the feel-good flow from their acts.

"I'm…uh…" he said but felt lost at words. What did you tell your friends after they just shared something so intimate? He felt disgusted with himself for pulling them into this but then he remembered the pain he felt and the uncontrollable desire he felt for both of his friends. He felt guilty. Naruto got up, then pulled himself from their embraces, and then he was gone.

Neji was the next one to come out of the glow but he was confused. They done all of that to help Naruto and for him to stay, but then he left. Shizune stayed on her spot on top of Neji and seemed to shake. She wanted to lie down properly, but she didn't want to move from her spot right now. She didn't trust her body to move properly right at this minute and she was covered in Naruto and Neji's fluids.

"So, uh," Neji started to try and talk but Shizune shifted off him and instead cuddled into his side.

"Shh," she told him and cuddled her face into his collarbone, "Don't talk." She was lost and she didn't want to move. She just wanted comforted. She didn't understand why they just did what they did but she realized that she wanted it to happen, and that she enjoyed it when it did happen. Neji wrapped his arms around Shizune and stayed quiet.

Neji panicked about five minutes later when he heard footsteps, but he didn't dare move because Shizune's eyes looked towards the person who was approaching. He relaxed as he felt the radiating and chaotic aura of Naruto overcome him. Naruto on the other hand set down a bucket of water and a few washcloths and knelt down beside his friends.

"Are you two okay?" Naruto asked as they both felt a hand touch their shoulders. Shizune tensed up for a moment but then relaxed.

"Yes," Shizune said as her strength started to return. Neji just nodded his answer and Naruto nodded back.

"Come here," Naruto told Shizune as Neji loosened his grip. He pulled Shizune up into his arms and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry," Naruto told her. Shizune didn't know how to respond so she hugged him back and just nodded. After a minute Neji sat up and stretched while Naruto and Shizune separated. "Take off your clothes," Naruto told them and they both froze, but Naruto only laughed. "We're covered in semen and you both want to stay dirty? I went and got a bucket of water for us to clean ourselves with," Naruto said as he tossed a wet washcloth to each of them.

"If I didn't know better than I would think you two have dirtier minds than I do!" Naruto said as he continued to laugh and started to clean himself.

-[===]-


	11. Frustrations Pt 2

A/N: I hope everyone is having a good weekend thus far! Here is pt. 2 of the chapter where Naruto is in heat! Man, I never thought writing so much Smut could be so much fun! Writers only want to have fun!

Chapter 11

_Frustrations Pt. 2_

Naruto woke up the next day feeling refreshed but no longer relieved. The relief he felt after last night was short lived but necessary. Even now, the morning after, Naruto didn't feel like he would lose control on his urges just yet so he got up in the morning rather than in the afternoon like he had been doing.

Naruto stretched and looked around to find that Shizune and Neji were already gone. "Are they mad at me?" Naruto questioned as he dwelt on last night. No one really talked much after they had all finished their intimacy and after cleaning up they all went to bed without very many words being said at all. They didn't talk about what happened or even acknowledge it, but they couldn't deny how great it felt to do something like that.

Naruto got dressed in his robe and left the temple in search of one of his friends, but he hesitated at the steps as he thought, "What if they don't want to talk to me?" He worried that the awkwardness of last night was going to break their friendship. "I did kind of force myself onto them…I wouldn't like it if someone done that to me," Naruto thought as he sighed and descended the steps.

He decided not to find his friends but to instead find some food. His frustration was at a low when compared to the past few days and Naruto was starving. He found food at the village center and went about mindlessly wandering about the village. After a few minutes he froze as he found Shizune. His eyes glued onto what she was doing and he noticed that she hadn't noticed him yet.

A small sharp hunger erupted from Naruto's stomach and warmth crawled up his spine as he watched her help and heal one of the village's children who had a scraped knee. Naruto smiled at how kind and caring she was to the child and he remembered all the times that Shizune had taken care of him when he was injured. Although it was a different thing for him because Naruto had to get really beat up before he needed Shizune to patch him up.

Naruto watched as the kid happily ran away and slowly but surely Shizune's eyes came to his. Naruto froze. She knew that he was watching her. He was busted. Naruto struggled for half a minute to break eye contact but when he did he fled back the way he came.

He definitely knew that he felt too awkward and ashamed of himself to talk to Shizune right now. "She didn't deserve…that last night," Naruto thought to himself as he wandered out of the village with a glass of the red liquid he had the first night. Naruto was stressed, tense, and sexually frustrated again. He wanted to relax and think. His feet guided him to the same tree that he and Shizune had talked under on the first day of Neji's training and Naruto sat down and once more started watching Ruk and Neji train.

Ruk would move various objects or ask Neji questions to test his detection skills. Naruto wasn't sure what skills Neji had learned in his absence but from what Naruto could tell by watching the training is that Neji was doing well in his training. Naruto smiled happily but he felt a dull ache erupt from his lower stomach. His eyes started to trail up and down Neji's body and Naruto realized that he was ogling his friend in a hungry fashion much like he ogled Shizune.

Naruto finished the drink he had and got up. Whatever the heat was it was coming back and he definitely wasn't finished with it. Naruto took off at a steady jog to start on his running track once more.

Naruto fell back into the routine of running while his friends were at the temple and sleeping when they were away. He would sometimes watch his friends from afar while they were away if he didn't want to sleep and this taxed him after only three days of this routine. Naruto walked back to the temple sometime after sundown exhausted and wanting rest but Shizune sat on the step in front of the temple.

Naruto looked at her and felt the pang in his heart return and the urges increase trifold from the last few days. She caught his gaze and looked at him. Naruto couldn't help but think how beautiful she was but he also noticed the worry and something else in her eyes. Naruto looked down at the ground with a resolute resolve and started to climb the steps.

He didn't want to force anything onto her. He felt ashamed and guilty of what happened the last time they even spoke to each other and he didn't allow any 'buts' to come into his thoughts. Naruto stormed past her with the intent purpose of lying down in bed but her voice called out as he passed her.

"Naruto," Shizune said in barely above a whisper and Naruto froze a few steps away from her with his back turned from her. "W-want to talk?" Shizune stuttered. She didn't want to force a confrontation with her friend if he was going to react negatively to her, and she wasn't sure how she felt about him after what they did the other night together.

"Not really," Naruto said without turning around. His mind hammered him with erotic memories and hopeful thoughts that maybe Shizune wasn't mad at him and wanted to help his ease his pain, but he also didn't want to force her into anything or push it too far. He didn't want to lose her as a friend and companion.

"Please?" Shizune said before she got up and grabbed his hand. Naruto shut his eyes and tried to push out the pleasurable sensations running up his arm. He let himself be led back to the steps and sat down beside Shizune. She released his hand a few moments later and let her hands fall to her lap. "Are you alright?" She asked him.

Naruto shook his head. No he wasn't alright. He had spent the past several days running himself raw so that he wouldn't come back to her and force another sexual encounter but at the rate this was going she was asking for him to do just that. Naruto knew that he was dangerous right now. He considered running away again just to prevent what might happen.

"Oh. Is it because of the…uhm, heat?" Shizune asked as a blush came to her face and she looked anywhere but Naruto. They were silent as both of them grappled with their own thoughts and fidgety bodies.

"Yes," Naruto finally said in a croak. His throat was dry because his last pit stop was over two hours ago and he was too tired to go and get anything from the village. He also didn't trust himself around other people right now with the thoughts and desires running through his mind.

"Oh," Shizune replied nervously as she started to mess with her hair. It was something she done when she was nervous around someone familiar. She didn't know what to say to her friend, but she did know how to help him thanks to the other night and any thoughts of that just made her nervous and embarrassed.

"Thank you," Naruto told her as he got up again and tried to look anywhere but her, "You know, for the other night? It really helped. I'm also…sorry that it happened." Naruto let his feelings go and felt panic that perhaps Shizune would respond in horror at him. That maybe she would slap him for bringing it up again, or maybe the mere mention of what happened would drive her away from him.

Shizune flushed deeply at the topic. She didn't know whether to welcome his thanks or to get angry at his sorry ass. She decided with the later on as he was starting to walk away. "Sorry!? Don't you _dare_ be sorry!" Shizune all but hissed as she followed after him.

Naruto turned to face her and saw her flushed face and the anger. He took a step back towards the animal pelt that covered the temple door in confusion. Wasn't apologizing for something bad typically how friends started to make up? Did he do something wrong in apologizing? Shizune charged at him in her anger and kept on ranting.

"You have nothing to be sorry about! No, it was me and Neji who approached you and coddled you until you were overcome with lust! Not to mention at the time we didn't even know what was going on, but you did warn us, and we didn't stop! In fact!" Shizune all but roared as Naruto back pedaled through the animal pelt and she followed him.

Neji was awake and listening to the confrontation. He knew that Shizune wanted to talk to Naruto so he told her to stake up for him tonight and that he would stake up for him the next night. They both knew what Naruto was doing and that he had to tire down eventually.

Naruto interrupted her as his own anger flared back, "I forced you both into…whatever it is we done! I could've left without your consent, or even not even returned until whatever the hell is going on with me was over!"

Shizune hissed as she kept on charging at him. "So you are sorry because you let your friends help you? Is that it?" she asked as she stopped in front of him. Naruto's back was against a pole and he was feeling a mirage of anger and lust.

"Yes! Yes I am! I am sorry that I initiated a three way between us! I feel bad about it! I'm not even sure if you are even interested in me in that light and," Naruto ranted back as Shizune closed the gap between them and pushed her lips roughly against his. She pushed him roughly against the pillar and kissed him hard to shut him up.

Naruto pushed back against her and in his anger he shoved her away. Their lips disconnected and he looked at her in disbelief. Red danced across his vision but not in anger, but lust. That felt _good._ He wanted more. "I don't know what I want," Shizune said back to him almost angrily and hurt, "But I don't want you angry at me for _foreplay!_"

Neji was up from his cot and beside Shizune. He pressed his hands against her lower back and said in a calm voice, "Calm down. Yelling isn't going to help." Naruto looked to Neji angrily before he shut his eyes again and tried to calm down.

"I'm sorry for the other night Neji," Naruto said as he tried to chase the lust and anger from his face. Naruto fell back even harder against the pillar as Shizune's hand slapped his face. Afterwards Neji's head fell back and he laughed.

"I told you not to be sorry!" Shizune growled out. Naruto turned to her with a smirk on his face. He was happy. Shizune was angry at him but not for what happened the other night. She was angry at him because he ran away from them again. Naruto walked towards her with the smirk on his face and Shizune, who saw the smirk, back stepped until she was the one against a support beam.

Naruto kissed her chastely on the lips. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing but he wanted to feel her lips against his again. Shizune's lips froze against his. She wasn't expecting him to do a complete turnaround from angry to affectionate in three seconds. She also felt nervous and her stomach fluttered lightly in excitement from his advance. Sure, she kissed him only a minute ago, but she was angry and trying to get her point across.

Naruto leaned back from the kiss and their lips separated. He didn't want to force her into anything and right now he felt in control of his desires and lust, heat be damned. Shizune looked up into his eyes in uncertainty and excitement. Naruto wasn't sure if she liked what he done or not, or if it took their friendship too far, or even why she kissed him a minute ago, but when she pressed forward and kissed him again he moaned, loudly, and the pain in his heart faded a little.

Neji didn't know exactly what was going on but he knew that Naruto was excited. Neji moved and wrapped his arms around his friend to try and calm him down. "Calm down Naruto, or do you want a repeat from the other night to happen?" Neji asked him. Neji still felt conflicted about his friend. He never once felt erotic or sexual in his life. He knew it existed. Tenten once tried to kiss him, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it because he was a slave to the main branch of the Hyuuga clan, but now things were different.

Naruto moaned against Shizune's lips and she pulled back with a brimming smile. "It's okay Neji. I kissed him," Shizune said. Neji's eyebrows rose at that. Shizune wanted him? Did that mean that he should leave so that they could be alone? Neji felt a pang of hurt that Shizune and Naruto didn't want him to. He wanted to be desired to. Over the past few days he thought a lot about what happened that night with Shizune and Naruto and the more he thought about it the more confused he felt.

The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted Naruto to want him. It made him feel safe, desired, and needed. It chased away his suicidal feelings and allowed him to think positively, but he also thought that maybe Naruto just used him that night, and that maybe Naruto didn't need him. Maybe he just wanted Shizune and Neji was in the way.

"Neji?" Naruto questioned his friend's embrace as he slowly wrapped his hand around one of Neji's. Naruto was fighting back the lust from his vision as he tried to gauge what his friend was feeling. Naruto couldn't tell much except Neji's grip continued to loosen around him. Naruto didn't want that. He wanted Neji to hold him and want him.

Naruto turned around in his embrace and trailed his fingers across Neji's cheek. The sudden feeling of fingers on his cheek caused Neji to flinch back to reality. "Do you forgive me?" Naruto asked as he leaned his forehead against Neji's forehead. Neji shut his eyes from reflex and took in a shuddering breath.

Is this what he really wanted? Did he want to be this close to Naruto, this affectionate with another man? Wasn't male on male relationships taboo? Neji tried to chase the thoughts from his mind as he nodded his head in answer to Naruto. He didn't blame Naruto for the other night. He blamed himself mostly because he was so rough with Naruto.

Naruto hesitated for a few moments as he struggled with thoughts. He wanted to kiss the man in front of him but without the complete lack of control he wasn't sure that he could do it. He wasn't sure if Neji was comfortable with him kissing him. Unlike Shizune, Neji didn't charge at him and plant one on him. He didn't want to chase his best friend away, but then again he didn't want Neji to feel left out or unwanted.

Naruto decided right then and there that if Neji were to have him as a significant other than Naruto would be that for him. His mind wandered back to their years spent together as sworn companions and at the dedication Neji showed to Naruto even then. Naruto pressed his lips softly against Neji's and Neji became as still as a statue against him.

Naruto felt the pang in his heart thrum in pain as he thought that Neji didn't like his actions. Fear overcame him as thoughts of his friend rejecting him or even turning on him came to his mind. Neji did go through a traumatic ordeal lately. Naruto wouldn't blame him for digging himself deeper into his isolation.

Naruto was just about to pull away when Neji's arms tightened around him and pulled Naruto taught against him. Neji pushed his lips the small distance that Naruto gained and reinitiated the kiss. Naruto curved his back into an arc and pleasure flooded every nerve in his body from the way Neji's embrace and lips touched him. Naruto moaned as his front side brushed against Neji and Naruto became aware of his lower member awakening from its slumber.

Neji pulled his lips away from Naruto's and asked him, "How bad is it? What is it like?" Neji wanted to understand. He wanted to help his friend if he could. Neji knew that the smallest of touches shouldn't make Naruto moan, but they did, and it excited Neji.

Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to center his thoughts once more. It was more difficult this time with Neji's hands resting on his hips and his breath pouring over his face. Naruto was faintly aware of Shizune's close position to his back and flashes of their previous night together flooded his mind.

"It is…distracting. Sometimes I can't think of anything else but of how something feels, or of you, or Shizune, or of what we did the other night," Naruto told them, and then he took a deep breath and thought about pushing them away. He still didn't want to force an encounter and he knew that if they kept touching then he was going to lose any semblance of control he had.

"It is painful. I ache down…there, and every nerve in my body is hyper sensitive. Even the touch of your hands through my robe makes me want to…," Naruto trailed off there as he started to bite his lip and shiver from the thought. After a few moments he came back to and his lip was bleeding slightly, "I'm hot. Extremely so, and it drives me in, fucking, sane!" Naruto felt Shizune's arms wrap around him and Neji and a pleasurable spasm ran up his spine.

Naruto tried to think thoughts of ugliness. He tried to think of things that downright disgusted him. He tried to think of things that made him angry. He even tried to picture old people bumping uglies, but even that didn't work as he saw red stars dance across his eyes. He leaned back against Shizune's chest and pressed his hips against Neji's. A moan erupted from his lips and Neji's breath hitched as Naruto rubbed against him.

"Guys," Naruto whined as his hands came to grip Neji's robes tightly. Naruto tried to continue his trail of thought but Shizune shifted slightly behind him and Naruto's head lolled onto her shoulder, just like before. "I get these urges to do things now. Sometimes I can't," Naruto tried to explain but a spasm came up his spine once more and the thought was lost as Naruto grinded his front side forward into Neji.

After a few seconds Naruto continued, "Control them. They build, and build, and build, and don't stop until they are sated, and even then they aren't sated. I want more!" Naruto ground and squirmed against his friends as more stars danced across his vision. Naruto thought about pushing his friends off him but he then he realized that he couldn't force them away any more than he could force himself away.

They were silent for a minute as Naruto leaned against them and occasionally ground or twitched in their arms. Shizune felt her stomach building into an uncomfortable knot at the way Naruto pushed and pulled against her, and Neji felt his body react by hardening against his friend's ministrations. "Do you need relief?" Neji asked suddenly as he pushed Naruto and Shizune back against the support beam.

By this point Naruto was seeing stars from the smallest touches. He couldn't deny his lustful desires even if he wanted to. He thought that he could maybe regain control over the situations if his friends released him and allowed him to sit by himself, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. "Yes," Naruto mewed out as Neji's front side grinded against his. "Please," he begged desperately. Naruto felt like a whore at that moment but he didn't care. He was painfully aroused.

"Okay," Neji said before his lips came to Naruto's neck. Naruto purred out in delight and pulled Neji closer. Shizune felt a bit left out since she was the one pressed against the support beam. She slowly withdrew her hands and started to search for the sash around Naruto's robe.

"I want to help to," Shizune said as she found the sash and untied it. Naruto mewed and pressed against her as Neji explored the new found skin. Shizune yanked his robe open and started her own exploration with her hands. Naruto's head lolled back into her shoulder as he was assaulted by both Shizune and Neji.

Neji's hand found Naruto's hair and he pulled his head sharply down and roughly kissed the blond's lips. Naruto opened his mouth immediately and his tongue shot towards Neji's. Neji felt something wet hit his lips and after a few seconds he curiously opened his mouth. Naruto's tongue slid into his mouth and Neji let out a moan in surprise.

Meanwhile, Shizune found Naruto's nipples and rubbed one of them roughly. Naruto twitched and pushed against her so hard that he and Neji unlocked lips. Shizune couldn't take it anymore. One of her hands pulled back to her own body and shot underneath her shirt. She started to rub her own nipple like she did Naruto's, and pleasure ran down her body in waves.

Neji's hands and lips began to roam Naruto's collarbone and hips again as he began his torture once more. Naruto's hips thrust forward against Neji's again and Neji swore that his heart jumped into his throat as Naruto pressed against his erection. The trio stayed like this for several minutes until Naruto grabbed Shizune's roaming hand and pushed it down and wrapped it around his lower member.

Shizune froze at the new sensation her hand was feeling and her already flushed face came to a new color of red. Naruto pulled her hand up and then down over his member and a low rumbling moan escaped the blond. He then left her hand there and his hands shot forward into Neji's robes. Shizune knew what Naruto wanted but some part of her was afraid that she would be bad at it. This was her first time for a lot of things, and definitely her first time touching an erect cock.

She heard Neji give off a moan from Naruto stroking his member and that pushed Shizune into action. She squeezed the cock in her hands slightly before she started a slow rhythmic pump. Naruto mewed and moaned against her and the sounds drove her to stroking him harder and slower. Naruto whimpered before Neji whimpered as well and she realized that her actions were dictating what Neji felt as well.

The made the tension in her stomach ball up even more and the hand she was using to pleasure herself slid down until she was rubbing her clit in the same slow sensual rhythm she was treating Naruto to. "Shizune," Naruto moaned out as his head lolled to her shoulder and Neji attacked his neck once more in fierce desire. Naruto's head turned and suddenly Shizune found her lips locked with his.

After a few moments their lips unlocked, but didn't separate by too much, and Shizune felt his breath as he moaned against her mouth. This drove Shizune into speeding up her hands. She moaned and pulled Naruto closer to her as pleasure shot up her spine and her legs felt weak.

Naruto moaned and twitched against both Neji and Shizune and he sped up his hands on Neji's member as well. Soon they were all moaning uncontrollably and moving at an increasingly faster rhythm. Neji was the first to lose his cool first. His fluids squirted all over Naruto's stomach, and he sagged against Naruto's shoulders and chest as his legs began to give out.

Naruto came next from Neji's reaction. One of his arms wrapped around Neji's waist and the other wrapped around Shizune's head as he thrust against Neji's stomach in blind pleasure. Shizune fell to her knees right then as her own orgasm rocked her, and then both of the boys fell to their knees from the aftermaths of their own orgasms. They all lay on the floor panting and resembling gelatin for several minutes until Naruto said, "Fuck that was awesome! I love you guys!"

-[===]-


	12. An Unexpected Visitor

A/N: I'm leaving for A-Kon soon, so have another chapter so that my week-long absence doesn't make you guys feel lonely! Enjoy!

Chapter 12

_An Unexpected Visitor_

Naruto woke up the next morning as Shizune came busting into the temple yelling at him. "Naruto! Get up! Jiriaya is in town!" she yelled. Naruto opened his eyes tiredly and rolled over onto his side facing towards her.

Last night he, Shizune, and Neji made up in their own erotic fashion and this morning Naruto felt oddly tired from the past week. Naruto groaned at her a incomprehensible jumble of words. Shizune put her hands on her hips and cocked her hip to the side in anger. "If you do not get up Uzumaki Naruto then so help me all the gods in this temple will not stop me from cracking your head open!" Shizune yelled at him.

This was serious. This was the first person she knew from Kohona to actually close in on their location, and she knew that Jiriaya was the only one to truly know there whereabouts to begin with. What if he came with important information? What if they needed to pack up and run but Naruto was being too lazy to move?

Naruto groaned at her again and flipped onto his back. His eyes opened to find Shizune towering over him with a menacing look on her face. "Morning beautiful," Naruto said before he yawned. Naruto realized that for the first time since he became human again that his nerves weren't on fire and his body didn't feel like a coiling snake waiting to strike. Naruto grinned in happiness as he rubbed his eyes.

Shizune blushed at the compliment and untucked her hip. She looked away in embarrassment and turned away from him. "I'm not that beautiful," she mumbled under her breath. Naruto's grin became even wider as he heard what she said, and he was about to reassure her but a new figure came through the animal pelt doorway.

Naruto's eyes trained to his master's form and he yawned again. He was still really tired. He felt more lethargic than ever since last night. He guessed that the past week was taking its toll on him in more ways than one. Naruto stretched out like a cat in a ways that he grew use to while he was a fox. Jiriaya and Shizune watched him and after more than twenty seconds of stretching Shizune face palmed.

"Hello Jiriaya-sama," Shizune replied and bowed to him. Jiriaya smiled at her and within a heartbeat his hands were wrapped around her right hand and he was holding it to his chest.

"Hello Shizune! You are just as delightfully polite as last time we met!" Jiriaya told her as she blushed and started to fidget. She was use to Jiriaya's behavior but it never made her feel less nervous at the sound of his voice and the implications suggested.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto bellowed out as his eyes glued to their hands and closeness. Naruto felt his stomach coil and churn as his eyes danced red. He wanted to threaten his master's privates just from the polite, but sensual, touches he was giving to Shizune.

Jiriaya looked to Naruto curiously and a small blush came to Jiriaya's cheeks. He immediately let Shizune's hand go and took a step back from her. Shizune was confused until she turned around to look at Naruto. He looked like he was about to charge in between them and pull Jiriaya into a fist fight. Shizune's blush deepened in color as heat raced to her face.

"I'll, uh, leave you two be. Yes, I am busy," Shizune said out loud before she pushed past Jiriaya and out of the temple. Jiriaya smirked knowingly and before Naruto knew it the old man was scribbling fiercely on a notepad. Naruto relaxed and sat back down on his cot. It was then that he noticed that he was still naked from the previous night. He face palmed. No wonder why Shizune was so eager to leave the temple.

"Hey Gaki," Jiriaya greeted him as he put away the notepad, "Put some clothes on. We have a lot to talk about." Naruto did as he was told. He slipped the robe he had been using for the past week back on and washed his face with the pale of water they had in the temple.

"Can it wait til I eat something? I'm starved," Naruto replied as he straightened himself out. He wasn't just starved. He was thirsty, sore, and aching from the rough week he had. The Kyuubi seemed to be purring in delight deep inside of his mind and Naruto wasn't sure just why Kurama was so delighted.

"I guess so," Jiriaya said and he fell into step as Naruto led them both to the village. "How are things going with you and Shizune?" Jiriaya asked with an all knowing grin. Naruto smirked and laughed at the old man.

"How do you know anything is going on between the two of us?" Naruto asked. He respected his master but he didn't trust the man enough to not put Naruto's only sexual adventures into one of his books.

"Oh, I know. You two wouldn't be acting this way if nothing happened," Jiriaya said. Naruto sighed. Jiriaya was right but Naruto didn't want to destroy the delicate new friendship he found with both Shizune or Neji, even if he wasn't a raging horny lunatic anymore.

"Nothing, Ero-sennin. Just drop it," Naruto told his master in a dejected type of tone. Jiriaya looked apprehensive for a moment before he just nodded to his apprentice. The duo reached the village, ate and drink while making small talk about what was going on lately.

"I still say that Sakura is a spy!" Naruto ground out while they sat on one of the many animal pelts. Jiriaya frowned at him.

"No way is she a spy. I know she had a stint with the rebels many years ago, but she has been loyal to our side ever since!" Jiriaya argued back. Naruto looked away from his master as Shizune caught his eye. She was in one of the many houses surrounding the center learning how to make clothes.

Naruto became very distracted from their conversation as his hearing began to tune in to Shizune's direction, and after a few seconds of Naruto ignoring him Jiriaya flicked him on the ear. "Ow!" Naruto cried out and glared at his master.

"Pay attention to me Naruto! You missed what I said all together," Jiriaya said before crossing his arms.

"What'd you say again?" Naruto asked. "If it's about Sakura and our past then don't even bother saying it. She is a damn spy and everyone is too blind to see it!" Naruto replied. He had this argument with his sensei before.

"It is about that! You are too blinded by your hate of your previous teammate to even give her a chance! You know that she has tried to make repercussions several times with you and you have rejected every one!" Jiriaya restarted the argument. Naruto sighed and rubbed his hand against his face.

He was tired, very tired, and this argument was turning him into a grouch. "Sakura offered to make peace with me three times. The first time she offered to go on a date with me. The second time she offered me flowers that she knew I was allergic to. The third time she came to me for help with something that she had no control over," Naruto said as he recalled each instance.

"And every time she came to me she came to me with sweet smiles and empty promises. You have never seen her in action. She is messed up in the head," Naruto told him as he narrowed his eyes, "And you are an idiot for trusting her." Jiriaya glared at his apprentice dangerously. The two of them had a weird dynamic.

Naruto would respect Jiriaya only as far as he could throw him, and that meant that once Jiriaya overstepped whatever boundaries that Naruto had that Naruto would get rough and dirty with the old man. Jiriaya didn't like being talked down to by his student and he tried to keep a level head about it, but he sometimes it was difficult just to do that.

"You helped her that last time," Jiriaya said as he recalled the instance as well, "You accepted her friendship back." Jiriaya knew what happened down to the letters in writing of what happened between Sakura and Naruto that night.

"Yes, I did, but under my own terms. We are _not_ friends!" Naruto hissed out the words and got up. He had enough of this. "I did what I did to help the people involved, nothing more, nothing less. I am done talking about this," Naruto said before he stormed off.

Shizune watched him leave the village as she became distracted from the lesson she was being taught. She noticed Naruto once he and Jiriaya started yelling and hissing at each other and she could only wonder what they were arguing about. Jiriaya sighed at his student's antics and followed after him.

"Gaki!" Jiriaya tried to get the blond's attention but Naruto just kept storming off. "Naruto!" he tried again, but Naruto didn't listen. Jiriaya sped his steps up until he was walking slightly in front of Naruto. "Fine! Fine! I'm sorry that I brought up that topic! I won't do it again!" Jiriaya said and Naruto stopped at his words.

"Ever?" Naruto said and narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I can't promise that!" Jiriaya said and smiled at his student. Naruto sighed and pushed passed him.

"Fine. Let's go somewhere more private to talk," Naruto said and Jiriaya fell into step beside him. Naruto led the two of them back to the field beside the temple and found the tree that he has become very fond and attached to. Naruto liked this spot. It relaxed him to just sit and be one with nature while watching his friend train with Ruk.

Naruto sat down and leaned against the tree, and Jiriaya done the same but leaned against a spot beside Naruto. "I see that you found Ruk for Neji," Jiriaya said as he followed Naruto's eyes out to the fields.

"Yeah," Naruto said in a dazed expression. Naruto wasn't thinking of Jiriaya right now. He was lost in his own thoughts of Neji and Shizune. Jiriaya's mouth dropped at his expression and his eyes bugged out, but after a second he brought his face back under control. He knew, but would Naruto even want to talk about something like that? Was Naruto having a three way with Neji and Shizune, or were the vying for his affections?

Jiriaya shook his head to shake the thoughts since Naruto was coming around to him. "Master, do you think Kohona will ever find peace again?" Naruto questioned curiously. Jiriaya looked at his student in wonder and scratched the stubble on his jaw.

"I don't know if they will find it in our lifetimes," Jiriaya said. Civil wars lasted a long time if they don't fizz out in the first few years. Both sides knew the lay of the land and knew how the other side worked. It was difficult to resolve a civil war unless one side is forced into complying with the other, and that was something that both sides wanted.

"I want peace. It is so different here than it is back home," Naruto told his master, "Here we don't squabble over politics or try to stab each other in the back. There are no innocent people dying for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. There is no rape happening. No senseless murdering." Jiriaya watched his student as Naruto's eyes glazed over in thought and dreams.

"I don't think there will be any peace in Kohona any time soon. Both sides are just too stubborn to back down. They are more likely to kill each other than find peace," Jiriaya said before he sighed.

Naruto frowned at his sensei. He knew that the old man was right but he couldn't help but dream and desire that type of peace. Naruto liked the village he was in but he couldn't call it home. He couldn't just settle down and forget the place that made him. He felt like he was betraying his home and this wasn't the first time he felt this way.

Naruto also spoke highly of peace and even tried to make other people see his ideals, but he usually failed. Naruto also wanted peace but didn't want to become involved with the two warring factions of his home. He didn't want to hurt anybody, and knew that they both wanted his abnormal power for their own evil intents. Naruto knew that the power he held could be used two ways.

He could either use it for good and keep it under control otherwise, or use it for evil and allow it to control him. Jiriaya taught him that much and Naruto took the lessons to heart, but now, after Naruto had spent an entire year in isolation, and especially now after he fled with Shizune and Neji, Naruto was feeling different. He didn't want to settle down out in the sticks with Shizune and Neji. He wanted to settle back down into Kohona and make whatever they had as a relationship work and blossom.

He wanted their relationship to mean something to other people, people that they knew and people that he could show that they were his. Naruto froze and blinked at that thought. Did he think of Neji and Shizune as his? Yes. Yes he did, but he couldn't tell when the change in his thought pattern happened. Did it happen when he was cuddled up against them as a fox, or more recently when he was writhing in pleasure between them?

Naruto came to find Jiriaya staring at him curiously and writing on his notepad. Naruto sighed. "If it bothers you so much then do something about it Gaki. If there is one person who could influence this whole civil war thing more than it is you. Hell, you caused the whole resistance to belly up in fear and anger as you hauled the Hyuuga princess off to the Inuzukas," Jiriaya told him.

Naruto smirked at the memory and Jiriaya smiled at him before continuing, "Or when you refused to do their dirty work for once and left on such a grand scale. We spent weeks searching for you but ultimately we could never find you." Naruto scratched the back of his head slightly embarrassed at the praise his teacher was giving him.

"What do you suppose I do?" Naruto asked him. Jiriaya shrugged.

"I've tried everything that I could possibly think of to get the big babies to stop fighting. Nothing has worked," Jiriaya said. "The Rebels are too stubborn and headstrong to give in, and the Resistance believes that the Rebels are traitors and scum. It is difficult to even get the two of them to sit down and talk civilly for five minutes," Jiriaya explained.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as theories ran through his mind. Kurama once told him that he was indeed controlled by an Uchiha on the night of his rampage, but that couldn't be what caused the civil war to ultimately happen could it? Could the rumors of the sole Uchiha of gotten out? Where did those rumors originally originate from to begin with?

"I will," Naruto told his master. "I will return to Kohona and make those blind idiots make peace with each other. I promise," Naruto pledged and Jiriaya just looked at him and smiled.

"Ask me for information whenever you need it, but I won't help you fight them," Jiriaya told the blond. His alliance was with the resistance and he was too deeply involved to look the other way. However, his relationship with his student was valued more than his alliance with the village. That is why he helped Naruto hide so well and caused misdirection in the Council upon Naruto's whereabouts.

Jiriaya had a feeling that the council was catching on to his game but he was prepared to play it long and hard. "Thanks Sensei," Naruto said before he looked confused. "Wait, while I enjoy catching up with you, just exactly why did you come to visit us here?" Naruto asked him.

Jiriaya fidgeted for a moment before he scratched his head very Naruto-like. "The princess told me to come check up on you," Jiriaya confessed. Naruto laughed.

"The princess? She is almost fourty years old and the leader of Kohona! She has to be a queen by now," Naruto said as he came out of his laugh. Jiriaya frowned at his student.

"No, she is unwed," he said quietly. This was ground that Naruto knew to read softly, but he didn't.

"And whose fault is that Master? You should've already eased your way into her arms and," Naruto started but he was interrupted as a punch knocked him over. Naruto rubbed his arm playfully acting like he was actually hurt.

"Shut up Gaki," Jiriaya said before he sighed woefully and leaned back against the tree with his eyes shut. Naruto smirked. He had a new goal to complete in the future.

-[===]-

That night another cot was set up in the temple and Jiriaya bunked with the trio. They laughed and talked into the night as a fire burned brightly in the middle of the temple. They had made a fire pit with the help of Lue and Ruk to chase away the increasingly colder nights. Naruto smiled happily as he conversed with his sensei and friends, but soon it was only him and his sensei as Shizune and Neji retired to their beds.

Jiriaya grimaced from Naruto's expression as his eyes traveled over his sleeping friends. "You have it bad for them kid," Jiriaya said before he took a sip of the red wine they got from the village. Naruto frowned at him and stayed quiet. He knew he felt something for them but to what extent did he feel for them?

Naruto thought back to when he and Neji swore an oath in front of witnesses to protect each other always or at least until their service to Kohona was done. They were away from Kohona now. Did that mean that their oath was completed? And the oath he made Shizune swear to him, how far did that oath in itself go and why did he feel that both the oaths were so personal?

Jiriaya sensed his mood and got up from the fire. He patted his student on the back and in silence went to lie down in his bed. Naruto knew that Shizune was sending messages back to Tsunade. Hell, he even encouraged her to do so once, but he was positive that Tsunade asked Shizune to spy on him while they were together. Naruto didn't know whether to feel betrayed by his friend's actions of relieved that Tsunade cared enough about him to spy on him.

Naruto also didn't know Tsunade's intentions for spying on him. There were a lot of variables that he couldn't find out while being this far away from Kohona and he knew that Jiriaya wasn't going to tip him off to Tsunade's intentions. Naruto also didn't want to push Shizune into a confrontation about her letters. He didn't want her to feel trapped here with him and Neji. Jiriaya appearing before them wasn't a coincidence. No, Shizune was greatly concerned with the changes that Naruto went through so rapidly.

He didn't blame her for writing back home for help or advice, but he couldn't bring himself to not feel betrayed that she was writing his acts and trails to someone he didn't want to know what was happening. If he confronted her then what would happen? Would she blow up at him, see that her cover was blown, and leave? Was her concern just a front for her to be close enough to him to glean information? Was the kiss and the acts they did the other day just a lie?

Naruto got up and walked out of the temple. He was tired but those troubling thoughts drove him to walk. He wanted what Shizune felt for him to be true. He truly did, but he couldn't tell if it was all an elaborate lie to get close to him or not. Hell, so much had been happening lately that Naruto had hardly had any time to truly think on the matters that his heat pushed upon his friends and himself.

Neji seemed eager to help relieve his pain and calm him down, but did that mean that Neji liked him in _that_ manner or that he tolerated him while he was in that state? Was Naruto so desperate for another human's touch and love that he was forcing himself onto his friends? Naruto sighed as a cold breeze drifted under his feet and caught into his robe.

Naruto also had no clothes of his own any longer. They were all destroyed by his transformation and Naruto noticed that Shizune and Neji had taken to wearing the robes that many of the villagers wear as well. They had been out here for a while and it wasn't like the road had been kind to their clothing. Naruto shivered and walked a bit faster.

Winter was going to be on them soon. Naruto could tell since the rains came and poured, and then left just as quickly as they came. The temperatures at night and day were dropping and Naruto was beginning to feel cold regardless of what he did to prevent it. Maybe that's why Shizune was taking sewing classes? Was she going to make them parkas for winter, or something?

Naruto smiled at the thought and lost himself in the rhythm of walking and thinking. Eventually he turned back to return to the temple. He was feeling better and now just tired, but when he approached the temple he found Shizune sitting on the steps writing a letter. Her eyes shot up from her letter and almost immediately she shoved it into her robe and smiled innocently to Naruto.

"Good Evening," Naruto greeted her as he came up to her and sat down beside her. She fidgeted nervously and looked worried. Naruto avoided her gaze and looked up at the cloudless sky. He wanted nothing more than to just ignore her spying and just live in the moment, but the thoughts that drove him away before made his heart ache in pain.

"Hi," Shizune replied meekly as she took in his form. Naruto was strong, muscular, but at the same time lithe and skinny. It was weird to see the polar opposites of muscular builds work on one person, but somehow Naruto pulled it off. Shizune nervously slid up to his side and leaned against him.

Naruto didn't really freeze from her touch, but he didn't welcome it at the same time. Could this all be a lie? Her desire to be close to him? It pained Naruto to think so and he tried all his might not to question her, but he couldn't ignore it. Naruto pushed her away gently and put some space in between them. "What's wrong?" Shizune asked and frowned at him.

Did he not want her since his heat seemed to be over? Was she just something to be used? Why didn't he welcome her affection like he did before? Shizune felt her heart pang in realization that she wanted to be close to him, and that she wanted his arms around her like the night they messed around.

"I know that you're writing to Tsunade," Naruto told her, "And that she sent you with me to spy on me." Shizune froze. So Naruto did know why she was allowed to leave with him without a fight. Was he angry about it? She looked down embarrassed and thought that maybe he didn't know until now, but how could he of not knew? Did he expect her to uproot her life in Kohona just to become a nuke ninja like he was?

"Of course you know. You knew it came with the territory of asking me for help," Shizune said before she looked up and narrowed her eyes at him. "You even encouraged me to write to my master," she reminded him. Naruto sighed.

"Yes, I remember, but I wanted you to feel better. Did it make you feel better?" Naruto asked. He wasn't sure where this conversation was going but he felt his anger beginning to flare in reaction to hers.

"Yes. You were right about my master. She has killed before," Shizune said as she relaxed a little and looked away from him.

Naruto remained silent for a few seconds before he continued, "And Jiriaya showing up here after my recent blow ups with Kurama?" Shizune's head snapped back and she looked at him in surprise. He knew about her letter to Tsunade asking for help, or on the constant updates as to what Naruto was going through?

Naruto felt his heart twist painfully at her response. He caught her red handed, literally since she was in the process of writing another letter to her master. Naruto gripped the steps under his fingers tightly as he tried to chase away the hurt he was experiencing. Why was he hurt? It only made sense that she would do this, and she done it out of concern, or fear?

Naruto stood up and looked away from her. The pain was too great. He felt betrayed even if Shizune done the right thing in this instance. He thought that maybe her oath would keep her from writing back to Tsunade with every little thing that was happening around him, but he was wrong. "I'm sorry. I've asked too much from you," Naruto said as he tried to keep the hurt from his voice. "I should have never dragged you away from Kohona," Naruto told her without looking to her.

That hurt Shizune. She shoved Naruto hard and he stumbled for a few seconds before looking at her in surprise. Shizune glared at him in rage and huffed angrily, "Don't you ever say that again!" Then she stormed off towards the village and Naruto watched her flight in confusion. Was there something between them, or was she still putting on a front to get close to him? He still couldn't tell and it hurt to think on the problem any longer.

Naruto turned from her flight and walked back into the temple. He was exhausted.

-[===]-

Shizune was livid. What did Naruto want from her? To uproot her entire life's work and dedicate herself to him? She walked herself around the village until she was tired and then sat down on one of the animal pelts. He mind was racing a mile a minute and she couldn't make out anything. Why did she swear an oath to him if she wasn't going to keep it when she wrote to Tsunade about him?

She broke her oath, in a way, to support him and watch his back. She wasn't doing him any favors by writing to Tsunade in the way she was but she couldn't help but feel conflicted about the whole situation. Their changes in their relationship made things even more confusing, like why did she want to be so close to Naruto now?

Before he showed up at her door she thought of him in the same light as she would think of a brother, if she ever had one, but after spending more time with him she couldn't see him in that light anymore. She wanted things that she never wanted before. She entertained the thought of just stopping her communications with her master in order to stay in Naruto's good graces, but the damage was already done and was what they had even worth it?

Shizune fretted before a lady brought her a glass of the red wine. She took a deep drink and sighed. "Relationship problems Hun?" the lady asked and sat down beside Shizune. Shizune looked the lady up and down, and indeed it was the lady who befriended her and her friends. Shizune never really caught her name but she had many nicknames in her head. Meat girl and drink lady came to mind when Shizune thought about her.

"I suppose you could say that," Shizune responded soberly before sighing again. Why did it hurt so much to see the betrayal in Naruto's eyes? She was ordered to spy on him. He should just understand her circumstances and not question her! He was asking for too much and he knew he was!

She downed the drink and accepted when the lady gave her another one. "Tell me about it," the drink lady told her and Shizune opened up. She spent the next hour downing as many glasses of the red wine she could and ranting about Naruto to the lady without revealing too much. The lady just sat and listened while Shizune ranted, and after an hour of the ranting and at no sign of Shizune slowing up the drink lady put her hands on her shoulders.

"Listen Hun, you are all messed up. You need to talk to him about this stuff," the drink lady said before smiling at her and patting her cheek, "Good luck." Then the drink lady got up and walked away. Shizune blinked after her lost in thought. What had just happened?

Shizune got up and stumbled a little. She smirked as she thought that maybe she had a bit too much of the red wine. She swayed with the alcohol flowing through her system and began to stumble her way back to the temple. The drink lady was right. Naruto was going to get a piece of her mind whether he wanted to or not.

Shizune stumbled back into the temple ten minutes later and slurred, "Naruto!" Her voice was loud and it woke everyone in the temple at once. Fortunately for them only Naruto, Shizune, Neji, and their guest, Jiriaya, lived in the temple at that time. Naruto sat up from his cot and looked at Shizune tiredly.

He wasn't able to sleep when she walked off. His traitorous thoughts were torturing him and now he knew that a confrontation was coming. "Shizune?" he asked in a low tone and felt embarrassed already. He was going to get verbally slammed now.

Shizune stumbled forward drunk and when Jiriaya approached her to help her she shoved him so hard that he fell on his ass. "Naruto!" Shizune screamed and jumped into his lap straddling him in the process. She pushed him against the ground angrily and glared at him.

Shizune knew she was on top of Naruto for some reason but she couldn't remember why. She was angry at him but the sudden contact made her mind flutter into a haze of touches. She closed her eyes and ignored the tingle of pleasure climbing up her spine. She had to stay angry. Why was she angry? She remembered.

"You, Jerk!" she screamed at him and then slapped him. Jiriaya felt a nose bleed coming and immediately went back to his pack to start recording the scene unfolding in front of him. Shizune leaned forward and planted her lips on his swollen ones and kissed him hard. Tears started to flow from her eyes and she rocked her hips against his stomach.

Naruto was speechless as Shizune pulled back and tears fell onto his face. "You jerk!" She said again as she tried to remember her anger. She was hurting and it distracted her more than she wanted. Naruto wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down until her face was pressed into his neck.

Naruto didn't know why he did this. He was just as hurt as she was at her betrayal. She cried into his neck hysterically for a few moments while dry humping his stomach. Then she pulled up and pushed against him angry again. "Why did you make me swear an oath that you knew I was going to break? Why!?" she asked him angrily and in a voice that told him that she was in pain.

Naruto couldn't look away from her as their eyes met and Naruto felt like a jerk. At that moment he felt like dirt and unworthy of love, but he tried to not let it show. Shizune continued her rant, "You were right. Tsunade asked me to spy on you when you came to ask me for help! I had to agree in order to not become a nuke ninja like you!" At this point Shizune crumpled against him again and let out a moan of sorrow and sexual tension.

Neji pointed towards the pair and listened stiffly. He didn't know what was going on and found what Shizune was saying to be a surprise, but make perfect sense. Naturally the oaths that Kohona made their shinobis come second to the village, but Naruto had her swear not to the village, but to Naruto. He remembered it hazily from when he was sick. Had Shizune broke her oath?

"You knew you were asking too much, but you asked anyway and I agreed! Now look at us! I don't even know what we are anymore! Friends? Lovers? Enemies? What are we?" Shizune cried out against him and she felt Naruto's arms encase her in warmth.

Naruto didn't know what to do, but he did know that he felt bad. He felt guilty that he put Shizune into the situation and relieved at the same time. Here she was yelling at him and assaulting him, but he felt relief that she was sitting on top of him and coming to him for comfort? Naruto let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and felt Shizune snuggle deeper into his neck.

"I'm sorry," Naruto told her, "I just thought that maybe you would stick by me when the whole world is against me. I never meant to put you into such a situation…I didn't mean to hurt you or drag you into a situation and have you swear to support me." Naruto pulled her up and looked into her red and puffy eyes. "If you want then you can leave with Jiriaya. I won't put you through this anymore if you don't want to be here with me," Naruto told her.

He had plans for ending the civil war. Big plans and he needed people he could trust with his life around him. He counted Neji among one of them, but he didn't know if he could trust Shizune with something like that. His heart hurt at the suggestion he was giving Shizune, but after a few seconds she reared up and slapped him again. Naruto looked up at her to see that his suggestion only pissed her off more.

"You idiot!" Shizune screamed at him. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" she repeated as her eyes shut and her body began to distract her again. She couldn't leave him now. Not after what they've been through. Not after the moments they've shared and the way Naruto looked at her when she was upset, or hurt, or just trying to talk to him.

She opened her eyes to find Naruto's glued to hers. The look in his eyes was the only reassurance she needed. "I will stop writing Tsunade-sama," Shizune said before she leaned down and kissed his lips. After a few seconds of kissing sloppily she pulled back and grinded against him. "I want to stay here, with you, if you'll have me," Shizune finally purred out.

Naruto looked up at Shizune in wonder. He couldn't deny her dedication anymore. Here she was practically beating him down while affectionately rubbing him at the same time while ranting to him about their problems and telling him that she will stop spying on him. Naruto needed to hear it from her though. He needed to hear that whatever they had wasn't a lie.

"Is this a lie?" Naruto asked her soberly as his hands slid down to her hips. She shivered and bit her lip from where his hands were and shook her head defiantly.

"No. I…I can't fake this. I want to be with you," Shizune told him as her grinding came to a stop. She looked down into Naruto's eyes and felt her heart pang painfully. Never once in her whole life had she felt so vulnerable and scared in that moment. Naruto smiled up at her and before she knew it he pulled her down and locked their lips.

"I want to be with you to. Both of you," Naruto whispered low into her ear after their lips separated.

"Neji to?" Shizune asked as a blush came to her face. She entertained the thought once or twice but ultimately she was too embarrassed to dwell on it much.

"Yes," Naruto replied and smiled against her ear.

"Ahem," Jiriaya said as he put his pad down, "Even though I enjoy the show happening in front of me, I would prefer not to see my student in this manner." Shizune and Naruto both looked to Jiriaya at the same time and a bright flush came to both their faces.

"I'm, uh, sorry Jiriaya-sama!" Shizune said as if she noticed his presence for the first time. Shizune fled to her own cot and dove into it embarrassed. Jiriaya laughed at her antics and shook his head.

"I'm going back to sleep," Jiriaya said before lying down. Neji lay back down as well and Naruto was the only one remaining who sat up right after Shizune fled. After five minutes of thinking and watching Shizune, who had her back facing him and was lying down, Naruto decided to crawl over to her cot. He laid his head down onto her pillow and wrapped his arm around her waist.

Shizune turned around tiredly and looked at in embarrassment. "Naruto!" she hissed quietly to him and he kissed her to make her quiet again. "Go to your own cot!" she hissed once his lips left her and he smiled at her.

"No, go to sleep," he said, and that was that.

-[===]-


End file.
